•    , . 


JOBACCO 

Its  Culture  and  Cure,  Marketing  and 
Manufacture 


A  practical  handbook  on  the  most  approved  methods  in  growing, 

harvesting,  curing,  packing   and  selling  tobacco, 

also  of  tobacco  manufacture 


J.  B.  KILLEBREW,  A.  M.,  PH.  D., 

For  ten  years  state  commissioner  of  agriculture  of  Tennessee,  and  author  of  exhaustive  report* 
on  the  crops  and  resources  of  that  state.     Special  expert  on  tobacco  for  the  tenth  U.  8. 
census,  and  author  of  its  comprehensive  report  on  the  culture  and  curing:  of  tobacco. 
Author  of  "Sheep  Husbandry,"  "Grasses  and  Forage  Plants,"  "Wheat 
Culture,"  "Elementary  Geology  for  Schools."  One  of  the  Editors 
of  the  Standard   Dictionary,  Member  of  the  American 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  and 
Honorary  Member  of  the   Clarksville  To- 
bacco Board  of  Trade. 

— AND— 

HERBERT  MYRICK,  B.  S., 

Editor  New  England  Homestead,  organizer  of  the  New  England  tobacco  growers'  associa- 
tion and  of  other  tobacco  growers'  organizations.  Author  of  "Sugar,  a  New  and 
Profitable  Industry,"  "How  to  Co-operate,"  "Money  Crops,"   Editor  of 
other  agricultural  journals,  etc.,  etc. 

Assisted  by  successful  tobacco  growers,  dealers  in  the  leaf,  manufac- 
turers of  tobacco,  and  by  specialists  in  the  sciences. 


PROFUSELY    ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

ORANGE  JUDD   COMPANY 
1897     P  .jf  . 


Copyright,  1897, 
BY  ORANGE  JUDD  COMPANY 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PART    I. 

ESSENTIALS  IN  TOBACCO  CULTURE. 

Page. 

CHAPTER  I.  Origin  and  Spread  of  Tobacco  Culture 3 

CHAPTER  II.  Status  of  the  Tobacco  Industry— On  the  Use  of  the 

Weed 16 

CHAPTER  III.  Varieties  of  the  Tobacco  Plant 27 

CHAPTER  IV.  Classification  of  Tobacco  Grown  in  the  United 

States,  and  the  Markets  for  it 46 

CHAPTER  V.  Science  in  its  Application  to  Tobacco 79 

CHAPTER  VI.  Manures  and  Fertilizers 105 

CHAPTER  VII.  The  Seed  Bed— Raising  Seed 150 

CHAPTER  VIII.  Transplanting 169 

CHAPTER  IX.  Tobacco  Barns  and  Sheds 179 

CHAPTER  X.  On  Curing  Tobacco 208 

CHAPTER  XI.  Pests  of  Tobacco— Diseases,  Insects,  the  Elements. .  233 
CHAPTER  XII.  Marketing  of  Tobacco 263 

PART    II. 

HEAVY  LEAF  AND  MANUFACTURING  TOBACCOS. 

CHAPTER  XIII.    Heavy  Shipping  Tobacco 290 

CHAPTER  XIV.    The  White  Burley  and  Manufacturing  Tobacco  ...  333 

CHAPTER  XV.    Yellow  Tobacco 352 

CHAPTER  XVI.    Perique  Tobacco 370 

PART   HI. 

CIGAR  LEAF  TOBACCOS. 

CHAPTER  XVII.    General  Considerations  of  Cigar  Leaf 379 

CHAPTER  XVIII.    Special  Fertilization  for  Cigar  Leaf 391 

CHAPTER  XIX.    Culture  of  Cigar  Leaf 404 

CHAPTER  XX.    Cigar  Leaf  Tobacco  at  the  West  and  South 433 

PART   IV. 

TOBACCO  MANUFACTURE. 

CHAPTER  XXI.    On  the  Manufacture  of  Tobacco 452 

CHAPTER  XXII.    Tobacco  as  a  Remedy 475 

APPENDIX,  statistics,  etc 483 

Y 


PREFACE 


The  object  of  the  authors  of  this  work  is  to  give  a 
comprehensive  account  of  the  tobacco  industry  in  the 
United  States,  and  its  relations  to  other  countries. 
Great  efforts  have 
been  put  forth  to 
make  exact  and  com- 
plete the  directions 
for  the  culture,  cur- 
ing and  marketing 
of  the  different 
kinds  of  leaf.  The 
aim  has  been  to 
make  every  chapter 
in  the  first  three 
parts  of  the  work 
essentially  com- 
plete, though  it  has 
not  been  possible, 

in  our  limited  space,  to  undertake  a  technical  description 
of  all  the  intricate  and  manifold  processes  of  manufac- 
turing tobacco.  The  chapter  on  manures  and  fertili- 
zers has  been  prepared  with  extraordinary  care  and  full- 
ness, owing  to  prevailing  misconceptions  upon  this  sub- 
ject among  both  growers  and  the  trade. 

The  senior  author  has  devoted  years  to  the  collec- 
tion of  facts  and  methods  pertaining  to  the  Heavy  Ship- 
ping, Bright,  Burley  and  Perique  tobaccos,  and  has 
carefully  verified  disputed  points  by  experimenting  on 
his  own  plantation.  The  junior  author  has  compiled 


LEWIS  K.   CLARK. 


SI.   H.  CLARK. 


PKEFACE. 


and  verified    the  experience   of    the    most    successful 
growers  of  cigar-leaf  tobacco  in  all  parts  of  America. 

The  authors  have  trav- 
elled more  than  ten  thou- 
sand miles  in  pursuit  of 
trustworthy  information  for 
this  book,  while  thousands 
of  circulars  have  been  used 
for  securing  original  data 
and  practical  experience, 
and  hundreds  of  letters  writ- 
ten to  insure  accuracy,  to 
the  end  that  the  work  might 
stand  for  years  as  an  au- 
thoritative manual.  No 
pains  have  been  too  severe, 
no  distance  has  been  too  far, 
no  expense  has  been  too 
great,  to 
make  the 
work  one 

that  will  commend  itself  to  all 
classes  of  persons  who  grow,  sell, 
buy,  manufacture,  retail,  export, 
import,  or  consume,  tobacco. 

Co-authors  with  us  in  the 
preparation  of  this  work,  have 
been  the  closest  investigators  into 
the  complex  'scientific  problems 
involved  in  the  tobacco  industry; 
many  of  them  the  most  observant 
growers  of  the  leaf,  and  expert 
planters  of  long  and  successful  experience  in  the  field 
and  curing  barn  ;  while  in  preparing  the  very  important 
portions  relating  to  the  marketing  of  the  leaf  and  the 
manufacture  of  tobacco,  we  have  enjoyed  the  invaluable 


F.  B.  HOODIE,  FLORIDA. 


8.  P.  CARK,  VIRGINIA. 


PKEFACE. 


»' SYLVAN  I  A. 


assistance  of  the  most  experienced  experts.      "Without 
the  generous  aid  of  these  gentlemen,   a  work  of  this 
character    could    not    have 
^Q    |^^  been  published.     Their  sen-- 

ices are  entitled  to  the  full- 
est recognition,  which  is 
most  gladly  accorded. 

Among  the  scientists 
who  have  aided  in  the  prep- 
aration of  this  book,  special 
credit  is  due  Prof.  "William 
Frear,  in  charge  of  tobacco 
work  at  the  Pennsylvania 
experiment  station,  who  is 
the  author  of  the  admirable 
treatise  on  the  bacteriology 
of  tobacco;  Dr.  E.  H.  Jen- 
kins, vice  director  of  the 
Connecticut  experiment  station,  under  whose  manage- 
ment the  famous  Poquonock  experiments  have  been 
conducted;  Prof.  H.  Garman, 
entomologist  to  the  Kentucky 
experiment  station,  whose  assist- 
ance has  been  invaluable  in  the 
preparation  of  the  chapter  on  in- 
sect pests ;  Prof.  M.  A.  Scovell, 
director  of  the  Kentucky  experi- 
ment station  ;  Prof.  "W.  C.  Stubbs 
and  J.  G.  Lee,  director  and  vice 
director  of  the  North  Louisiana 
experiment  station ;  President 
Le  Roy  Broun  of  the  Alabama 
agricultural  college ;  Dr.  C.  A. 
Goessman  of  the  Massachusetts 
experiment  station  and  Prof.  R.  J.  Davidson,  chemist 
to  the  Virginia  experiment  station.  Full  use  has  also 


PROF.  H.  GARMAN,  KENTUCKY. 


PREFACE. 


been  made  of  the  excellent  work  done  by  Prof.  E.  S. 

Goff,  at  the  Wisconsin  experiment  station,   by  F.   G. 

Carpenter,  at  the  North  Carolina 

experiment  station,  and  by  Dr. 

S.  W.  Johnson  of  Connecticut, 

and  by  Nessler,  Schloesing,  and 

others  in  Germany. 

Among  the  practical  men 
who  have  contributed  valuable 
aid,  we  would  mention,  in  Vir- 
ginia, in  Richmond,  Hon.  S.  P. 
Carr  of  the  Davenport  ware- 
house, James  M.  Gentry,  Cam- 
eron &  Cameron,  J.  Wright  Co. 
and  William  M.  Dibrell ;  John 
Sims  of  Maxwelton,  Halifax  GEORGE  L.  WIMBEKLY,  N.  c. 
county,  himself  a  successful  planter,  who  has  descended 
through  a  long  line  of  successful  tobacco  growers  reach- 
ing back  nearly  200  years.  Mr. 
/;'.  I-  Carr  has  never  failed  to  respond 

promptly  and  cheerfully  for  any 
information,  and  when  the  facts 

'••r'^l^  were  not   at  his  command,  he 

has  spared  neither  time  nor  ex- 

JB  pense  in  securing  data  for  us, 

v  and  his  substantial  and   ready 

^JL^T'     ^ft^.          assistance  fully  entitles  him  to 

^^^BPrf  ^^feb     share  with  us  in  the  authorship 

of  the  work. 

In   Tennessee,    our  obliga- 
tions are  due  to  F.   W.  Taylor 
1  *"*i'i**^?=™     and  George  C.  Ourtlirons  of  Mor- 
WALLACE  TAPPAN,  NEW  YORK,      ristown,  to  C.  Austin  of  Greene- 
ville,  Jack   Crouch   of   Clarks- 

ville,  Hon.  James  G.   Aydelotte  of  Tullahoma,  Walter 
Fort  and  Mr.  Harned  of  Robertson  county,  Otto  Giers  of 


PREFACE.  Xi 

Nashville.  A.  B.  and  J.  P.  Killebrew,  of  Montgomery 
county,  large  and  successful  tobacco  planters,  have  sup- 
plied many  valuable  facts 
regarding  the  more  re- 
cent methods  in  the 
heavy-shipping  districts 
of  fertilization,  cultiva- 
tion and  harvesting ; 
also  Mr.  J.  C.  Kendrick, 
president  of  the  Clarks- 
ville  tobacco  board  of 
trade,  and  M.  H.  Clark, 
the  Nestor  among  to- 
bacco dealers  of  Tennes- 
see. Mr.  Clark's  high 
intelligence  and  exten- 
sive and  varied  knowl- 
edge of  tobacco  among 

THOMAS  MASON,   OHIO.  ,...,.         , 

all  civilized  nations,  and 

his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  special  types  suita- 
ble for  consumption  by  the  various  peoples  of  the  earth, 
make  his  contribution  to  this  work  of 
special  and  authoritative  value.  The 
rich  endowments  of  his  mind  are  only 
equaled  by  the  excellence  of  his  ad- 
dress, his  high  courtesy  as  a  gentle- 
man, and  his  gracefulness  and  perspi- 
cuity as  a  writer.  His  brother,  Lewis 
R.  Clark,  a  full  associate  in  the  to- 
bacco trade,  is  also  a  gentleman  of  rare 
culture  and  of  varied  attainments.  He 
has  never  hesitated  to  comply  with  *>HN  BIMS,  VIBG: 
any  request  made  of  him  for  information  pertaining  to 
tobacco.  Charles  Dowell,  of  Robertson  county,  is  enti- 
tled to  our  best  thanks  for  the  admirable  designs  fur- 
nished by  him  for  building  curing  houses, 


xii 


PREFACE. 


H.  8.  FRYE,  CONNECTICUT. 


Kentucky's  interest  in  this  work,  besides  that 
already  mentioned,  is  represented  by  contributions  from 
Alexander  Harthill,  of  Louisville,  .^^^flfa^ 
whose  name  is  familiar  to  the  to- 
bacco dealers  of  two  continents; 
W.  C.  Thompson,  of  George- 
town, a  large  and  most  intelligent 
grower  of  White  Burley  tobacco, 
furnished  minute  details  respect- 
ing the  culture  and  management 
of  that  variety  of  tobacco; 
Thomas  E.  Browder,  of  Logan 
county,  who  for  several  years  was 
associated  with  a  large  tobacco 
commission  house,  and  subse- 
quently became  a  successful  grow- 
.^— - — ^  er  of  tobacco, 

|^k  supplied  valuable  information  respect- 
ing  the  types  used  in  foreign 
countries.  Single  facts  have 
been  obtained  from  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  most  intelligent  plant- 
ers and  dealers  throughout  the 
State. 

In  North  Carolina,  valuable 
aid  was  received  from  G.  L. 
Wimberly,  an  intelligent  grower 
of  Edgecombe  county;  Col. 
Isaac  Sugg  of  Greenville,  Hon. 
H.  G.  Connor  and  James  I. 
Thomason  of  Wilson,  and  the 
Hon.  Julian  S.  Carr  of  Durham. 
The  name  of  the  latter  is  known  and  appreciated  wher- 
ever pipe-smoking  tobacco  is  used.  In  South  Carolina, 
we  are  indebted  to  E.  M.  Pace  of  Marion,  Sydnor  & 
Treadway  and  Bright  Williamson  of  Darlington. 


WALTER    A.  FORT,   TENN. 


W.  F.  ANDROSS,  CONN. 


Thomas  Mason  of  Cincinnati,  the  accomplished  editor 
of  the  Western  Tobacco  Journal,  has  never  failed  to 
answer  inquiries  relating  to  to- 
bacco, and  this  work  is  enriched 
by  many  useful  facts  supplied  by 
him.  Mr.  Lockwood  Myrick's 
deep  studies,  laboratory  work, 
and  practical  experience  in  the 
manufacture,  sale  and  use  of  fer- 
tilizers, is  largely  responsible  for 
the  completeness  of  Chapter  VI. 
A.  W.  Fulton  assisted  in  working 
up  the  valuable  chapter  on  the 
marketing  of  the  various  kinds 
of  tobacco. 

In  the  cigar  leaf  portions  of 
the  work,  we  are  particularly  in- 
debted to  W.  W.  Sanderson,  one  of  the  most  careful  and 
practical  experts  in  the  culture  of  Havana  seed  in  Mas- 
sachusetts; Pres.  H.  S.  Frye,  of 
the  New  England  tobacco  grow- 
ers' association  ;  "W.  F.  Andross, 
of  the  East  Hartford  section ; 
John  E.  DuBon,  field  manager 
for  the  Connecticut  Tobacco  Ex- 
periment Company;  Hon.  Wal- 
lace Tappan,  of  Onondaga  coun- 
ty, New  York;  Pres.  W.  C. 
Morse,  of  the  Chemung  valley 
(N.  Y. )  growers'  association ; 
Mr.  F.  R.  Diffenderfer  of  Lan- 
caster county,  and  other  Penn- 
sylvania growers;  Mr.  Jacob 
Zimmer,  of  the  Miami  valley, 

Ohio,  and  several  AVisconsin  planters.     The  chapter  on 
cigar -leaf  culture  in  the  South  and  West  is  largely  based 


ALEX  HAKTHILL,  KY. 


xiv 


PEEFACE. 


on  the  successful  practical  experience  of  Col.  F.  B. 
Moodie,  president  of  the  Florida  tobacco  growers'  associ- 
ation ;  A.  Alonzo  Cordeiy,  vice  president  of  the  Cuban 
tobacco  growers'  company  in  Southern  Florida,  and  to 
Dr.  Jenkins'  careful  studies  of  the  extensive  operations 
with  tobacco  in  Florida. 

It  is  also  to  the  gentlemen  enumerated  that  we  are 
mainly  indebted  for  the  large  number  of  original  uhoto- 
graphs  from  which  the  en- 
gravings for  this  work  have 
been  produced.  Pardonable 
pride  is  felt  in  the  complete- 
ness of  our  illustrations.  We 
especially  commend  the  read- 
er's attention  to  the  plates 
illustrating  the  most  perfect 
plants  of  the  leading  varieties 
of  tobacco.  These  plants  were 
grown  specially  for  this  pur- 
pose by  experts,  from  the 
finest  strains  of  seed  true  to 
the  perfected  varieties,  and 
are  believed  to  faithfully  pre- 
sent, for  the  first  time  in 
print,  truly  lifelike  portraitures  of  variety-standards. 
Even  the  cursory  reader  will  observe  that,  after  nearly 
four  hundred  years  of  tobacco  growing,  there  is  yet  much 
to  be  learned.  The  increasing  competition  in  raising 
this  crop  in  various  parts  of  the  world  makes  it  necessary 
that  American  tobacco  planters  employ  to  the  utmost  the 
teachings  of  practical  experience  and  applied  science. 
This,  combined  with  good  management  and  the  closest 
economy  throughout  the  business,  will  enable  the  United 
States  to  hold  its  lead  for  another  century  in  the  world's 
tobacco  markets,  besides  supplying  its  own  consumption, 
with  the  cigar  leaf  heretofore  imported. 


W.   SANDERSON,    MASS. 


PART  I. 


ESSENTIALS  IN  TOBACCO  CULTURE. 


ESSENTIALS    IN    TOBACCO    CULTURE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ORIGIN   AND    SPREAD   OF    TOBACCO   CULTURE. 

The  truth  of  the  assertion  made  by  the  Chinese 
that  they  cultivated  and  knew  the  use  of  tobacco  long 
anterior  to  the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus,  is 
not  sustained  by  any  records  entitled  to  credit  by  civi- 
lized nations.  When  or  where  it  was  first  cultivated  or 
used  is  one  of  tbe  mysteries  which  rest  in  the  unrelieved 
darkness  of  unlettered  history.  Pipes  from  prehistoric 
mounds  in  the  United  States,  Mexico  and  Peru  prove 
the  extreme  antiquity  of  tobacco,  and  pipes  are  found 
only  in  American  ruins  or  mounds.  Columbus,  during 
his  first  voyage,  saw  the  natives  smoking  it,  and  in  sub- 
sequent voyages  the  fact  was  noted  that  it  was  used  by 
the  aborigines  in  smoking,  chewing  and  snuffing.  It  is 
supposed  to  have  taken  the  name  tobacco,  by  which  the 
Spaniards  called  it,  from  the  tobaco,  which  was  the 
inhaling  apparatus  of  the  Caribbees.  Benzoni,  who  trav- 
eled in  America  in  1542-1556,  says  the  Mexicans  called 
the  plant  "tobacco."  On  the  continent  of  America  it 
was  usually  called  "petum"  ;  by  the  West  India  island- 
ers, "yoli." 

In  1558,  Francisco  Fernandes,  a  physician  who  had 
been  sent  to  Mexico  by  Philip  II  to  investigate  and  re- 
port on  the  natural  productions  of  that  country,  brought 
3 


4  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

back  with  him  the  tobacco  plant.  The  next  year  Her- 
nando  de  Toledo  carried  some  tobacco  from  San  Domingo 
to  Europe. 

During  the  same  year  Jean  Nicot,  the  French  em- 
bassador  to  Portugal,  sent  some  seeds  to  his  sovereign- 
mistress,  Queen  Catherine  de  Medici,  and  from  this  cir- 
cumstance it  was  called  herba  regina.  To  commemorate 
the  services  rendered  by  Nicot,  in  spread- 
ing a  knowledge  of  the  plant,  the  gen- 
eric name  Nicotiana  was  given  to  it. 

Sir  John  Hawkins  carried  it  from 
Florida  to  England.  Harriot,  who  was 
in  the  expedition  under  the  command 
of  Sir  Richard  Grenville,  sent  out  by 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  which  discovered 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  mentions 
the  fact  that  the  Spaniards  called  the 
plant  tobacco.  In  1586,  tobacco  was 
first  carried  into  England  from  Vir- 
ginia by  the  agents  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  and  its  use  soon  became  fash- 
ionable among  the  courtiers  and  the 
persons  of  quality. 

John  Rolfe,  in  1612,  became  the 
first  civilized  tobacco  grower.  He  was 

FIG.   1.       TOBACCO      J ..          ,         -  ,        ,    _.  , 

SMOKED  THROUGH  A  the  husband  of  Pocahontas,  and  grew 
TUBE,  AS  FIRST  SEEN  tobacco  for  export  to  the  mother  coun- 

BY  COLUMBUS.  O1          ,,  .,  ,         o.         ~ 

From  Lobei-s- History  trJ-  Shortly  afterwards  Sir  George 
or  Plants,"  1576.  Yeardley,  the  deputy  governor,  en- 
couraged the  colonists  to  grow  it  for  profit.  In  1617, 
the  streets,  market  places  and  all  the  open  lots  of  James- 
town were  planted  in  tobacco.  But  for  tobacco,  the  set- 
tlement of  Virginia  at  that  period  would  have  proved  a 
failure,  for  it  became  the  currency  of  the  country,  the 
measure  of  all  values  and  the  sole  product  of  Virginia 
that  would  command  articles  of  value  in  exchange. 


ORIGIN  AND  SPEEAD.  5 

In  June,  1619,  twenty  thousand  pounds  were  shipped 
to  England.  James  I,  a  pedant  in  learning  and  a  fool 
in  statecraft,  made  a  furious  attack  upon  the  use  of 
tobacco  in  a  paper  which  he  called  "A  Counterblaste  to 
Tobacco."  His  kingly  influence  caused  a  duty  of  six- 
pence a  pound  to  be  levied  on  all  importations  of  tobacco 
to  the  United  Kingdom.  So  far,  however,  from  the 
"Counterblaste"  proving  an  injury  to  the  planter  and  a 
check  to  the  consumption  of  tobacco,  it  actually  in- 
creased the  one  and  benefited  the  other.  Prices  went 
up  and  the  area  of  its  cultivation  was  rapidly  enlarged. 
From  this  period  on,  the  col- 
ony of  Virginia  grew  and  ex- 
panded, and  the  narcotic 
which  aroused  the  kingly  ire 
of  James  became  the  founda- 
tion stone  upon  which  was 
erected  one  of  the  most  pop- 
ulous and  prosperous  com- 
monwealths in  the  New 
World.  And  so  it  came  about 
that  the  beginning  of  law, 
the  expansion  of  justice,  ae 
increase  of  commerce,  civili-  BROUGHT  IN  BY  A  FEMALE. 
zation,  culture,  refinement From  Be  Bry'8  "ST"  Brasl"ana>" 
and  progressive  thought,  rested  upon  the  plant,  the 
fumes  of  which  were  compared  by  King  James  to  the 
"fumes  of  hell." 

Young  women  were  brought  into  the  colony  after 
this,  to  become  the  wives  of  the  growers  of  tobacco.  In 
1620,  and  just  before  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  landed  on 
Plymouth  Rock,  ninety  young  women  were  brought  to 
Virginia,  chargeable  with  the  cost  of  transportation, 
which  was  at  first  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds,  and 
afterwards  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  of  tobacco. 
This  expense  was  cheerfully  borne  by  those  who  took 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


them  for  wives.  And  thus  tobacco  first  riveted  the 
bonds  of  matrimony  in  the  New  World,  and  made  con- 
tented citizens  of  the  little  white  band  of  adventurous 
spirits  that  first  peopled  Virginia.  But  for  the  profits 
of  tobacco,  the  colony  would,  doubtless,  have  perished, 
and  British  civilization  would  have  lost  its  foothold  in 
the  southern  boundaries  of  North  America. 

The  profits  from  tobacco  proved  so  great  that  the 
cultivation  of  the  food  crops  was  neglected.     This  con- 
dition demanded  strenuous  regulations  by  the  Virginia 
company.      In  1621,  the  colonists 
were  restricted  to  the  planting  of 
one  hundred  plants  per  head,  and 
the  number  of  leaves  to  each  plant 
was  limited  to  nine.     Afterwards, 
the  number  of  leaves  was  extended 
to  twenty-five  or  thirty,  and   re- 
duced,   in    1629,   to    twelve.      In 
1629,  3000  plants  per  poll  and  1000 
plants  each  for  women  and  children 
were  allowed.     The  crop  of  1621 
was  60,000  pounds,  55,000  pounds 
of  which  were  exported  to  Holland. 
FIG.  s.  TOBACCONIST'S   The  price  in  England  for  the  same 
SHOP,  LONDON,  1600.      year,  with  the  duty  added,  ranged 

From  Brathwait's  "Smoking    .  „  ,    „ 

Age."  from  seventy-five  cents  to  one  dollar 

per  pound.  In  1676,  the  mother  country  collected  from 
the  duty  on  tobacco  120,000  pounds  sterling.  The  whole 
amount  collected  from  the  custom  duties  in  1590,  during 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  was  only  50,000  pounds.  This 
increase  is  largely  to  be  attributed  to  the  trade  in  tobacco. 
In  1731,  the  exports  of  tobacco  from  the  Provinces  of 
Maryland  and  Virginia  conjointly  reached  60,000  hogs- 
heads of  600  pounds  each,  which  yielded  375,000  pounds 
sterling,  or  $1,875,000.  The  imposts  on  this  were  180,- 
000  pounds  sterling,  or  $900,000. 


ORIGIN  AND   SPREAD. 


Warehouses  for  the  inspection. of  tobacco  were  first 
established  in  Virginia  in  1730,  the  object  of  which  was 
to  prevent  the  exportation  of  trash,  bad,  unsound  and 
unmerchantable  tobacco.  The  minimum  weight  for  a 
hogshead  was  800  pounds.  So  rapidly  did  this  industry 
grow,  that  in  1754  the  exports  from  Virginia  alone  were 
50,000  hogsheads.  During  this  period,  tobacco  was 
worth,  in  London,  lid  to  12Jd  per  pound.  Only  24,500 
hogsheads  were  made  in  Virginia  in  1758,  and  the  price 
rose  as  high  as  fifty  shillings  per  hundred  pounds  in 
that  province.  The 
annual  average  ex- 
ports of  tobacco  from 
Virginia  from  1745 
to  1755  inclusive, 
were  44,000  hogs- 
heads. The  annual 
exportation  from  the 
American  colonies 
from  1763  to  1770, 
was  66,780  hogsheads 
of  1000  pounds  each. 
For  the  four  years 
just  before  the  Rev- 

,      ,.  FIG.  4.     A    TOBACCO  "DRINKER"    INHALING 

Olutionary   war,  100,-     SMOKE  AND  EXPELLING  IT  BY  THE  NOSE, 

000,000  pounds  were    As  PRACTICED  BY  THE  DUTCH  ABOUT  1600. 

Copied  from  a  rare  book  on  tobacco  published  at 

sent  abroad  annually.  Rotterdam,  1623. 

The  average  exports  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution 

were  12,000,000  pounds. 

Kentucky,  now  producing  nearly  one-half  of  all  the 
tobacco  grown  in  the  United  States,  was  settled  mainly 
by  Virginians,  and  the  culture  of  tobacco  was  coeval 
with  its  first  settlement.  As  early  as  1785,  Gen  Wilkin- 
son, of  Kentucky,  entered  into  a  contract  with  the  Span- 
ish authorities  in  New  Orleans  to  supply  them  with  sev- 
eral boat  loads  of  tobacco.  It  is  believed  that  most  of 


8  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

this  was  grown  in  Kentucky.  In  the  southern  and  cen- 
tral parts  of  Kentucky,  and  in  Tennessee,  tobacco  was 
grown  as  a  commodity  as  early  as  1810.  Prior  to  1833, 
by  far  the  largest  quantity  of  tobacco  grown  in  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee  was  sent  to  the  market  in  New  Orleans, 
where  it  was  taken  for  foreign  consumption.  After  that 
time,  local  dealers  established  factories  in  Clarksville  and 
at  a  few  interior  points,  and  began  to  buy  loose  tobacco 
and  stem  it  (i.  e.,  take  out  the  midrib  of  the  leaf)  for 
the  English  market.  A  few  years  after  this,  Henderson, 
Ky.,  grew  to  be  a  great  strip  market,  a  position  which 
it  still  holds.  From  this  time  on,  the  Western  markets 
for  tobacco  sprang  up  in  many  places.  Inspection  ware- 
houses were  estab- 
lished in  Louisville 
as  early  as  1839,  and 
in  Clarksville  in 

•  ,  "   lir  184:5.      At    these 

[_^  \\  markets,   casks  are 

PIPBOFWAB.  PIPE  OP  PEACE.  stripped    from    the 

FIG.  u.  PIPES  OF  AMERICAN  INDIANS.  tobacco,  and  sam- 
ples drawn  by  sworn  inspectors.  These  two  places, 
Louisville  and  Clarksville,  are  the  pioneer  inspection 
markets  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  and  they  opened  the 
first  inspection  warehouses  in  the  West.  From  the 
establishment  of  these  local  markets  in  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee,  the  tobacco  trade  of  the  Mississippi  valley  went 
on  increasing,  until  now  it  stands  second  only  to  cotton 
as  a  farm  commodity  for  exportation. 

The  New  England  colonists  grew  some  tobacco  in 
the  decade  embraced  between  1640  and  1650,  but  the 
cultivation  of  it  was,  for  the  most  part,  abandoned  dur- 
ing the  18th  and  the  first  three  decades  of  the  19th  cen- 
tury, when,  by  experiments  first  made  by  B.  P.  Barber 
of  East  Windsor,  Conn.,  it  was  ascertained  that  a  qual- 
ity of  tobacco  could  be  grown,  deficient,  indeed,  in 


ORIGIN  AND   SPBEAD.  9 

sweetness  and  in  nicotine,  and  in  those  qualities  desired 
in  chewing  tobacco,  but  in  fineness  and  delicacy  of  tex- 
ture, in  strength  of  tissue,  and  in  glossiness  and  smooth- 
ness of  surface,  far  superior  to  anything  that  had  ever 
been  grown  in  the  South.  It  proved  to  be  highly  valu- 
able in  the  manufacture  of  cigars.  Its  culture  brought 
great  wealth  to  the  planters  of  the  Connecticut  valley, 
especially  in  the  years  succeeding  the  Civil  war,  which 
culminated  in  an  era  of  speculation  and  extravagance 
that  was  closed  disastrously  by  the  panic  of  1873. 
Meanwhile,  eastern  Pennsylvania  and  central  New  York 
State,  attracted  by  the  profit  in  cigar  leaf  tobacco,  em- 
barked in  it  upon  a  constantly  increasing  scale,  followed 
by  the  Miami  valley  in  Ohio,  and  by  southern  Wiscon- 
sin, until  now  more  than 
100,000,000  pounds  of  to- 
bacco are  grown  in  these 
states  annually,  not  all  of 
which  may  be  classed  as 
cigar  leaf. 

The   industry   gradu-FIG-6-  PREHISTORIC  PIPE  USED  BY 

.,  •         -i      j?  -inivn     i  THE  MOUND  BUILDERS  IN  THE  MI8 

ally  revived  from  1878  to  SIS8IPPI  VALLEY  CENTURIES  AGO; 
1885,  when  the  increasing  From  Smithsonian  Report,  1848. 

importation  of  wrapper  leaf  from  Sumatra  curtailed  the 
market  for  domestic  wrappers.  Serious  decline  followed, 
with  virtual  bankruptcy  for  many  planters,  until  the 
tariff  of  1890  imposed  a  duty  of  two  dollars  per  pound 
on  imported  wrappers.  The  domestic  cigar  leaf  indus- 
try promptly  rallied,  quantity  and  quality  of  crop  im- 
proved, prices  advanced,  and  prosperity  seemed  to  dawn 
again  upon  the  wrapper-producing  sections.  Florida's 
capabilities  as  a  wrapper  leaf  State  were  demonstrated, 
although  some  excellent  tobacco  had  been  grown  there 
prior  to  the  Civil  war.  Prices  declined  after  the  national 
election  in  November,  1892,  foreshadowing  a  change  in 
policy ;  but  with  a  return  to  the  former  method,  it  is 


10  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

believed  that  the  home  market  for  domestic-grown  cigar 
wrappers  will  once  more  make  this  branch  of  the  tobacco 
industry  as  prosperous  as  the  culture  of  the  leaf  in  other 
States  for  other  purposes. 

The  rise  and  progress  of  the  yellow  tobacco  interest 
in  the  Piedmont  regions  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina, 
and  especially  in  the  latter  State,  show  one  of  the  most 
abnormal  developments  in  agriculture  that  the  world 
has  ever  known.  This  leaf  is  mainly  used  for  wrappers, 
chewing  plugs,  and  also  for  making  "fine  cut"  tobacco 
and  cigarettes.  About  the  year  1852,  two  brothers,  Eli 
and  Elisha  Slade,  owned  farms  which,  in  part,  occupied 
poor  ridge  lying  between  two  tributaries  of  the  Dan  river, 

in  Caswell  coun- 
ty, North  Caro- 
lina. Upon  this 
ridge,  during  the 
year  mentioned, 
they  planted  to- 
bacco, and  cured 


FIG.  7.     MOUND  BUILDERS'   PIPES  FOUND   IN       ft  wj^  fireg 
ROSS  COUNTY,  OHIO,   U.   S.  A.  , 

From  Smithsonian  Report,  1848.  Of    Charcoal,    TCg- 

ulated  in  a  definite  manner.  They  succeeded,  by  this 
means,  in  giving  to  it  a  beautiful  lemon-yellow  color. 
Their  neighbors  caught  the  infection,  and  soon  the  to- 
bacco from  Caswell  county  began  to  arrest  the  attention 
of  the  tobacco  dealers  by  reason  of  its  superior  beauty 
and  sweetness.  High  prices  were  paid  for  it.  During 
the  Civil  war  very  little  of  this  high-grade  tobacco  was 
produced,  but  between  1870  and  1880  its  production  was 
revived,  and  it  is  not  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  it  did 
more  to  build  up  the  prosperity  of  North  Carolina  than 
all  other  agencies  combined.  Old  fields,  that  had  been 
abandoned  because  of  their  sterility,  became  the  most 
profitable  farming  lands  in  the  State.  Poverty  in  the 
soil,  for  once,  became  the  first  principle  of  agriculture. 


ORIGIN  AND  SPREAD.  11 

The  lands  which  grew  the  finest  tobacco  had  light  cream- 
colored  soils,  93  per  cent  of  which  was  siliceous  matter. 
This  porous,  spongy,  sandy  earth,  destitute  of  humus, 
and  incapable  of  growing  any  crop  without  the  most 
abundant  application  of  manures,  became  the  corner 
stone  of  a  new  agriculture.  Tobacco  was  planted  upon 
it,  with  the  addition  of  a  very  small  quantity  of  manure, 
from  which  the  plant  could  derive  sustenance  until  it 
approached  maturity.  When  the  manure  became  ex- 
hausted, the  plant  began  to  lose  its  vitality  and  take  on 
every  day  a  deeper  yellowish  tinge.  Just  before  they 
were  harvested,  the  plants  turned  to  a  beautiful  color, 
like  hickory  leaves  in  autumn,  and  fields  of  tobacco  at  a 
distance  looked  more  like  those 
of  small  grain  ready  for  the  har- 
vest than  tobacco  fields. 

The  sterilized  spots,  worn 
out  and  abandoned,  grown  up  in 
bamboo  briers,  chinquapin  bushes  FI<  TOBACCO  noo 
and  sickly,  scrubby  pines,  that  in  From  an  oid'poste'r. 
1860  could  with  difficulty  be  sold  for  fifty  cents  per  acre, 
were  soon  in  demand  at  thirty  to  fifty  dollars  per  acre. 
Old  towns  that  had  been  well-nigh  deserted  because  of 
the  decay  of  agriculture  in  their  vicinity,  suddenly  took 
on  new  life.  New  streets  were  laid  out,  great  blocks  of 
buildings  were  erected,  railroads  were  constructed,  and 
the  constant  going  and  coming  of  hustling  business  men 
made  a  transformation  as  great  and  almost  as  quick,  and 
certainly  as  profitable,  as  would  the  discovery  of  gold 
mines.  Indeed,  the  yellow- tobacco  interests  of  North 
Carolina  proved  far  more  beneficial  to  the  whole  popula- 
tion than  the  finding  of  gold  mines  would  have  been. 
Gradually  the  planting  extended,  first  westward  from 
the  Piedmont  region  to  the  steep  ridges  lying  at  the 
foot  of  the  lofty  mountains  in  Buncombe  and  other 
counties  in  western  North  Carolina.  Many  thriving 


12  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

towns  were  built  up,  hundreds  of  prosperous  manufac- 
turing establishments  of  cotton  and  tobacco  followed  in 
the  wake  of  this  new  tobacco  trade.  In  a  few  years  the 
soils  of  the  Champaign  regions  were  tested  for  their 
capacity  to  grow  this  yellow  tobacco,  and  the  success 
with  such  soils  opened  a  new  district  for  its  expansion 
and  cultivation. 

Then  the  culture  extended  still  further  westward 
over  the  mountains,  to  the  sunny  slopes  of  Unicoi, 
Greene  and  Washington  counties  in  Tennessee,  where 
its  growth  rescued  many  villages  from  decay  and  planted 
a  prosperity  in  that  region  which  it  had  never  before 
enjoyed.  Nor  is  its  progress  yet 
ended.  North  Georgia,  western 
South  Carolina,  the  white  lands 
of  the  Highland  Rim  in  middle 
Tennessee  and  Alabama,  the 
white,  sandy  and  clayey  soils  of 
West  Tennessee,  and  of  the  hill 
i regions  of  Mississippi,  Louisiana 
and  Arkansas,  and  the  sides  of 
the  Ozark  mountains  in  Missouri, 
FIG.  9.  MAKING  SN^F,  noo.  may  all  be  transformed  from  re- 
From  Fail-holt's "  Tobacco."  gions  of  comparative  poverty  to 
regions  of  wealth,  through  the  successful  culture  of  yel- 
low tobacco.  Every  year,  new  territory  is  being  tested 
for  the  growth  of  this  tobacco.  The  thin,  sterile,  white 
soils  around  Tullahoma,  Tennessee,  produced  as  fine 
yellow  tobacco  in  1896  as  was  produced  in  North  Caro- 
lina, and  this  experiment  opens  a  new  field  for  its  growth, 
embracing  500,000  acres  in  the  center  of  Tennessee. 

Scarcely  less  interesting  is  the  history  of  the  culture 
of  the  White  Burley  tobacco.  This  variety  originated 
in  Brown  county,  Ohio,  upon  the  farm  of  George  Webb, 
living  near  Higginsport.  In  the  spring  of  1864,  Mr. 
Webb  sowed  the  Ked  Burley  seed.  The  plants  came  up 


OBIGIN  AND  SPREAD.  13 

and  grew  with  the  usual  appearance  of  healthy  plants, 
except  in  one  particular  spot,  where  they  had  a  whitish, 
sickly  look,  so  much  so  that  they  were  left  in  the  bed 
for  a  time.  In  setting  out  his  crop,  however,  Mr.  Webb 
found  that  he  lacked  plants  enough  of  a  healthy  charac- 
ter to  finish  his  planting,  so  he  drew  the  whitish  looking 
ones  and  set  them  out.  For  two  or  three  weeks  the 
whitish  plants  grew  but  little,  but  after  they  became 
well  rooted  they  advanced  with  great  rapidity,  retaining 
their  creamy  richness  of  color,  and  ripening  two  weeks 
earlier  than  any  other  plants  in  the  field. 

When  cured  by  atmospheric  influences,  the  same 
process  used  in  curing  the  Bed  Burley,  the  underside  of 
the  cured  leaves  was 
of  a  whitish  tinge, 
while  the  upper  side 
was  of  a  beautiful 
golden  hue.  Some 
of  these  plants,  when 
cured,  measured  six 
feet  in  length,  and 

were  so  handsome  in  Fm  w  TKAN8PORTING  TOBACCO  „  THE 
appearance,  and  the  OLDEN  TIMKS. 

tissue  of  the  leaves  was  so  fine,  .that  Mr.  Webb  placed 
them  on  exhibition  in  the  Bodeman  warehouse  in  Cin- 
cinnati. Intelligent  buyers  gave  encouragement  for  its 
further  cultivation,  and  the  next  year  Mr.  Webb,  fortu- 
nately having  saved  some  seed,  planted  ten  acres  of  it, 
which  yielded  11,000  pounds  of  tobacco,  very  handsome 
and  silky,  with  all  the  characteristic  coloring  which  the 
sample  of  the  previous  year  displayed.  When  offered  in 
the  market  it  brought  from  twenty-five  to  forty-five 
cents  per  pound,  and  a  premium  of  three  hundred  dol- 
lars, in  addition,  was  awarded  to  the  grower.  From  this 
"sport,"  which  originated  so  unaccountably,  there  has 
been  developed  an  impetus  in  tobacco  culture  in  southern 


14  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

Ohio  and  northern  Kentucky  as  great  as  in  the  yellow- 
tobacco  regions  of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia.  This 
class  or  type  of  tobacco  was  found  to  be  more  suited  for 
manufacturing  purposes  and  to  the  tastes  of  the  Amer- 
ican tobacco  chewers  than  any  other.  It  is  very  mild, 
with  a  small  content  of  nicotine,  and  its  absorbent  capac- 
ity is  greater  than  that  of  any  tobacco  hitherto  grown. 
For  many  years  the  demand  for  it  far  exceeded  the  sup- 
ply. The  prices  paid  for  the  most  trashy  leaves  ex- 
ceeded the  prices  paid  for  the  best  crops  of  heavy  ship- 
ping tobacco.  It  soon  invaded  the  famous  blue  grass 
regions  of  Kentucky.  Stock  farms  were  converted  into 
tobacco  farms.  Blue  grass  pastures  that  had  been  the 
ornaments  of  the  farms  and  the  pride  and  glory  of  many 
generations  of  stock  breeders,  were  plowed  up  and 
planted  in  White  Burley  tobacco.  Experiments  were 
made  in  its  culture  in  every  part  of  the  tobacco-growing 
area  of  the  United  States,  but  it  was  soon  found,  as  it 
was  with  the  growth  of  yellow  tobacco,  that  it  may  be 
produced  in  its  perfection  only  upon  the  soils  adapted  to 
it.  The  blue  limestone  regions  of  Kentucky  and  the 
drift  soils  of  southern  Ohio  have  almost  a  monopoly  of 
its  culture,  as  the  light,  sandy  regions  and  whitish,  clayey 
districts  have  the  monopoly  of  the  growth  of  the  yellow 
tobacco. 

Within  three  hundred  and  seventy  years  the  culti- 
vation of  tobacco  has  extended  from  the  streets  of 
Jamestown  to  e^ery  quarter  of  the  globe.  Population 
has  moved  westward,  tobacco  eastward.  Of  all  the 
stimulants  and  narcotics  used  by  man,  it  is  probably  the 
least  injurious  in  its  effects  upon  the  human  system. 
Yet  it  may  be  injurious,  and  often  is,  so  much  so  that  its 
culture  and  use  has  ever  been  bitterly  contested.  In 
spite  of  all  this,  tobacco  grows  on  every  land  and  is  used 
by  every  people.  From  New  England  to  Louisiana, 
from  Virginia  to  the  prairies  of  the  West,  from  the 


ORIGIN  AND   SPREAD.  15 

Indias  of  the  West  to  the  Indias  of  the  East,  from  the 
continental  islands  of  the  Indian  ocean  to  the  southern 
continent  of  Australia,  tobacco  is  grown  and  consumed. 
Like  its  next  of  kin,  the  Irish  potato,  it  has  made  the 
conquest  of  the  earth. 

It  is  the  greatest  of  all  revenue-producers.  It  is 
taxed  by  every  government.  It  bears  a  heavier  burden, 
in  proportion  to  its  cost  of  production,  than  any  other 
commodity.  The  governments  of  France,  Spain,  Italy 
and  Austria  make  a  monopoly  of  its  manufacture  and 
sale.  England  puts  a  tax  upon  it,  averaging  1200  per 
cent  of  its  prime  cost.  It  is  the  stay  of  nations,  the 
poor  man's  luxury  and  the  rich  man's  solace. 


CHAPTER   II. 

STATUS    OF  THE    TOBACCO    INDUSTRY — ON    THE    USE  OF 
THE    WEED. 

The  demand  for  prime  quality  tobacco  is  constantly 
increasing,  because  of  the  increased  rate  of  consumption. 

In  the  United  States,  while  population  in  1896  is 
only  two  and  one-half  times  greater  than  in  1860,  con- 
sumption of  manufactured  tobacco  is  fivefold  greater,  and 
of  cigars  tenfold,  to  say  nothing  of  five  hundred  cigarettes 
per  capita  consumed  annually,  which  were  unknown  be- 
fore the  war.  In  the  twelve  years  ended  with  1892,  do- 
mestic consumption  of  cigar  leaf  tobacco  increased  forty 
per  cent,  while  the  quantity  of  manufactured  tobacco 
consumed  (smoking,  chewing  and  snuff)  just  about 
doubled.  Exports  have  doubled  within  two  decades, 
and  now  average  one-third  larger  than  ten  years  ago. 

The  per  capita  consumption  in  France  has  trebled 
in  little  more  than  half  a  century,  while  a  somewhat 
similar  rate  of  increase  is  apparent  in  England  and 
other  European  countries.  In  other  parts  of  the  world, 
for  which  statistics  are  lacking,  it  is  believed  that  the 
per  capita  consumption  is  increasing  even  more  rapidly. 
Add  to  this  the  growth  of  population,  and  it  is  evident 
that  the  market  for  tobacco  is  certain  to  be  an  expanding 
one.  This  is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  staple  necessi- 
ties of  life,  such  as  wheat,  rye  and  potatoes,  the  consump- 
tion of  which  for  each  unit  of  population  appears  to  be 
comparatively  stationary. 

An  advance  in  the  value  of  tobacco  has  been  coinci- 
dent with  this  increased  demand.  If  100  is  taken  to 
16 


THE   USE    OF    THE   WEED.  17 

represent  the  average  wholesale  market  price  of  Ameri- 
can tobacco  in  leaf  during  the  year  1860,  its  value  for 
1891  averaged  140  in  the  United  States,  in  England 
163,  and  at  Hamburg,  Germany,  85  (see  table  in  Ap- 
pendix). The  advance  noted  in  America  and  Great 
Britain  is  partly  due  to  the  improvement  in  quality, 
only  the  better  grades  being  included  in  the  quotations 
averaged,  while  the  decline  observed  at  Hamburg  may 
be  ascribed  to  the  bulk  of  low-grade  leaf  imported,  in- 
cluding, of  late  years,  increasing  quantities  from  new 
centers  of  production  south  of  the  equator. 

The  advance  of  40  per  cent  in  market  value  of  the 
better  grades  of  American  leaf  is  all  the  more  remark- 
able because  of  an  average  decline  of  12  per  cent  in  the 
value  of  wheat  during  the  period  under  review,  a  decline 
in  wool  of  25  per  cent,  and  of  cotton  20  per  cent.  The 
general  average  for  all  farm  products  shows  a  decline  of 
three  per  cent  (see  table  in  Appendix).  In  other 
words,  tobacco  alone,  of  all  the  great  staples,  maintained 
an  advance  in  value  in  the  three  decades  since  the  war. 
Nearly  all  values  have  declined  since  the  exhaustive 
study  of  prices  was  made,  in  1891-3,  by  the  finance  com- 
mittee of  the  United  States  Senate,  but  the  general  av- 
erage for  tobacco  shows  a  less  falling  off  than  most  other 
crops,  except  in  the  more  speculative  cigar  wrapper  leaf. 
The  tables  of  quotations  in  the  Appendix,  upon  the 
standard  grades  of  leaf  in  the  principal  home  and  for- 
eign markets,  confirm  the  foregoing. 

Increased  production  in  the  United  States,  of  leaf 
and  of  cigars,  cigarettes  and  manufactured  tobacco,  has 
fully  kept  pace  with  increased  consumption  and  export. 
The  United  States  now  devotes  over  700,000  acres  to  this 
crop  annually,  about  one-third  more  than  forty  years 
ago,  with  a  crop  twice  as  large  as  then,  for  it  exceeds 
500,000,000  pounds  in  a  year  of  average  production. 
Nearly  300,000,000  pounds  are  manufactured  for  chew- 
2 


18  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

ing,  smoking  and  snuffing,  a  tremendous  increase — ten 
times  as  much  as  was  returned  for  internal  revenue  tax- 
ation three  decades  ago.  The  cigar  output  is  also  ten 
times  larger  and  bids  fair  to  soon  reach  five  billion  a 
year,  while  eight  billion  cigarettes  have  been  made  in  a 
single  twelve  months. 

The  development  of  the  cigar  making  and  tobacco 
manufacturing  industry  in  the  United  States  has  like- 
wise been  rapid.  It  employs  about  150,000  people  in 
about  12,000  establishments,  against  only  25,000  em- 
ployees and  2000  factories  in  1860.  The  wages  now 
paid  are  ten  times  as  much  as  then,  materials  used  cost 
five  times  as  much,  while  the  annual  product  of  these 
factories  represents  seven  times  the  value  of  1860.  In- 
deed, these  tobacco  products  in  1890  exceeded  in  value 
the  total  of  the  printing  and  publishing  trades.  The 
people  pay  more  for  tobacco  than  for  newspapers,  books, 
or  other  literature — almost  as  much  as  for  foot  wear,  and 
about  twice  as  much  as  they  pay  for  sugar.  With  a  to- 
bacco factory  product  valued  at  $200,000,000,  the  last 
census  affords  this  comparison  with  the  values  of  the 
product  in  other  manufactures  :  Boots  and  shoes,  $220- 
000,000;  carpentry,  $281,000,000;  carriages  and  wag- 
ons, $114,000,000  ;  cotton  goods,  $268,000,000  ;  woolen 
and  worsted,  $225,000,000  ;  liquors,  $300,000,000  ;  flour 
and  mill  products,  $514,000,000  ;  slaughtering  and  meat 
packing,  $433,000,000;  sugar  refining,  $123,000,000. 

Government  revenues  from  the  tobacco  industry 
have  kept  pace  with  this  marvellous  growth,  although 
the  rate  of  taxation  has  been  downward.  Almost  $50,- 
000,000  of  revenue  was  obtained  by  the  federal  govern- 
ment from  tobacco  in  the  fiscal  year  1891.  Two-thirds 
of  this  vast  sum  was  derived  from  the  direct  or  internal 
revenue  taxes  on  domestic  leaf,  and  the  balance  from 
duties  on  imports  (Appendix).  Until  internal  revenue 
taxes  were  reduced  by  the  law  of  1883,  tobacco  yielded 


PLATE  I.    CONNECTICUT  (East  Hartford)  BROADLEAF  (topped  plant). 

This  beautiful  engraving  is  of  a  plant  grown  in  a  field  of  several  acres 
raised  by  W.  F.  Andross,  an  experienced  planter  in  the  famous 
East  Hartford  district.  The  seed  has  been  carefully  selected  and 
inbred  for  years,  this  specimen  representing  average  perfection  of 
the  variety.  This  plant  is  topped  and  is  nearly%ady  for  harvest- 
ing. When  photographed,  August  10th,  it  was  5£  feet  high ;  length 
of  stalk,  3  feet  1  inch;  top  leaf,  28£  inches  long  and  13  inches  wide; 
largest  leaf,  34x19$  inches;  number  of  perfect  or  merchantable 
leaves  on  plant,  14,  only  one  being  a  thick  top  leaf,  three  good  leaf 
binders,  and  ten  fine  wrappers.  Many  plants  are  larger,  some  hav- 
ing top  leaves  36  inches  long,  with  largest  leaves  43x23  Inches— a 
truly  royal  plant. 


20  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

one-third  of  the  total  receipts  from  internal  revenue  tax- 
ation, and  it  now  yields  about  one-fifth.  Tobacco  also 
yields  ten  per  cent  of  the  total  customs  receipts,  against 
four  per  cent  under  the  tariff  of  1883.  Altogether, 
tobacco  now  furnishes  fifteen  per  cent,  or  nearly  one- 
sixth,  of  government's  total  net  ordinary  receipts. 

The  present  status  of  the  tobacco  industry  thus  rep- 
resents immense  financial  interests.  Many  millions  are 
invested  in  tobacco  lands,  bams,  fertilizers,  culture,  im- 
plements, labor  and  warehouses.  About  $100,000,000 
are  engaged  in  making  cigars,  cigarettes  and  snuff,  and 
in  manufacturing  tobacco.  The  growers  get,  say,  from 
$40,000,000  to  $50,000,000  for  the  crop  in  its  raw  state. 
Aside  from  vast  sums  paid  for  help  in  the  domestic 
trade,  our  tobacco  factories  alone  pay  in  wages  over 
$60,000,000,  and  their  annual  product  exceeds  $200,- 
000,000  in  value.  Tobacco  is  exported,  in  its  raw  state, 
to  the  average  value  of  $30,000,000,  while  imports  rep- 
resent about  half  that  sum.  Add  to  this  something 
like  $50,000,000  of  revenue  paid  to  government,  and  it 
appears  that  the  annual  stake  in  the  United  States  to- 
bacco crop  and  industry  represents  the  stupendous  sum 
of  more  than  $400,000,000.  The  duplication  in  this 
total  is  much  more  than  offset  by  items  that  manifestly 
are  not  included,  such  as  the  permanent  investment  in 
farms,  warehouses,  factories  and  the  like. 

Certainly  the  investment  in  this  tobacco  crop  and 
trade,  and  its  annual  product,  are  sufficiently  large  to 
raise  it  to  the  dignity  of  one  of  the  most  important  of 
American  industries.  As  such,  it  is  well  worthy  of  the 
most  profound  attention  on  the  part  of  planters  and 
agricultural  scientists,  of  dealers  and  manufacturers, 
and  of  statesmen. 

All  evidence  and  experience  demonstrates  what 
every  intelligent  tobacco  planter  knows — that  only  the 
best  quality,  except  in  rare  instances,  pays  a  real  profit. 


THE   USE    OF    THE   WEED.  21 

And  with  the  increasing  competition  of  foreign  leaf  in 
the  markets  of  the  world,  it  is  evident  that  the  suprem- 
acy of  American  tobaccos  will  depend,  in  great  measure, 
upon  their  quality.  Present  profits  and'  future  prosper- 
ity will  be  governed  by  the  quality  of  the  leaf  produced. 
This  fact  cannot  be  too  often  reiterated.  To  this  end, 
our  scientists  must  cooperate  most  earnestly  with  plant- 
ers, while  much  is  yet  to  be  learned  about  preservation 
and  improvement  of  quality  in  the  processes  of  packing, 
handling  and  manufacturing. 

Our  statesmen  must  also  be  educated  to  pursue  a 
policy  that  shall  develop,  instead  of  discourage,  this 
great  industry.  This  country's  policy  of  removing 
every  possible  obstruction  in  the  way  of  domestic  tobacco 
culture,  trading  and  manufacture,  is  the  only  right 
method.  The  product  can  stand  a  reasonable  amount 
of  direct  taxation,  when  imposed  and  collected  by  the 
comparatively  simple  and  effective  system  now  in  vogue. 
It  imposes  on  growers  no  restrictions  of  any  moment, 
while  taxes  on  the  finished  product  and  on  licenses  are 
moderate,  and  are  collected  with  little  friction. 

While  we  should  jealously  guard  our  interests  in 
the  foreign  market  for  the  surplus  of  American  leaf, 
the  certain  increase  in  production  and  quality  in  other 
parts  of  the  world  must  be  reckoned  upon.  The  idiotic 
restrictions  on  tobacco  culture  in  other  countries  (it  is 
prohibited  in  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  and  seriously 
hampered  in  other  European  States),  are  likely  to  be 
succeeded  by  the  American  system,  which  is  equally 
successful  as  a  revenue  producer,  without  depriving  farm- 
ers of  the  benefits  of  growing  this  profitable  crop. 
The  longer  those  restrictions  are  maintained  abroad, 
the  better  the  opportunity  for  American  leaf  in  for- 
eign markets.  But  it  is  inevitable  that'  these  older 
nations  will  gradually  encourage  tobacco  culture,  while 
newer  lands  possess  vast  areas  of  soil,  now  virgin  to 


22  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

this  crop,  where  it  is  destined  to  be  grown  on  a  com- 
mercial scale. 

Thus  the  present  status  of  the  tobacco  industry 
throughout  the  world  emphasizes  the  wisdom  of  guaran- 
teeing the  home  market  to  the  American  producer. 
How  important  this  is,  appears  from  the  fact  that  within 
less  than  two  decades  our  imports  of  tobacco  have 
jumped  from  a  nominal  figure  to  equal  half  the  value  of 
our  tobacco  exports — the  latter  a  fruit  of  four  hundred 
years  of  effort !  To  buy  foreign  leaf  at  an  average  of 
sixty  cents  a  pound,  and  pay  for  it  with  domestic  to- 
bacco at  eight  cents  per  pound,  is  a  policy  that  cannot 
be  justified  by  any  economic  theory,  when  the  truth  is 
that  leaf  of  the  same  quality  as  the  imported  can  be 
grown  in  the  United  States. 

IS  TOBACCO  INJURIOUS  TO  THE  HEALTH  OF  THE 
BODY,  THE  MORALS,  OR  THE  INTELLECTUAL 
FACULTIES  ? 

The  enormous  increase  in  the  consumption  of  to- 
bacco, previously  outlined,  has  been  accomplished  in  the 
face  of  what  was  formerly  the  bitterest  opposition. 
During  the  past  twenty  years  this  feeling  against  the 
tobacco  habit  has  somewhat  waned,  until  the  campaign 
against  the  weed  is  now  mainly  directed  against  its  being 
indulged  in  by  the  young,  or  to  excess  by  the  old. 
Snuff  talcing  is  on  the  decrease,  it  is  a  question  whether 
chewing  is  not  also  on  the  decline,  and  the  vast  increase 
is  in  the  various  ways  of  consuming  tobacco  by  smoking. 

Tobacco  has,  on  the  one  hand,  been  denounced  as 
the  fruitful  parent  of  all  that  is  physically  injurious  or 
morally  depraved,  and  on  the  other  hand,  its  use  is  re- 
garded as  innocent,  wholesome,  pleasing  and  comforting, 
adding  to  the  happiness,  while  subtracting  nothing  from 
the  health  of  the  body,  or  from  the  elevation  of  the  mor- 
als or  the  clearness  of  the  intellectual  faculties.  The 


PLATE  II.     CONNECTICUT  BKOADLEAF  (in  flower). 

Complete  or  perfect  plant  of  the  variety  shown  in  Plate  I.  This  plant 
was  slightly  wilted  when  photographed  a  few  minutes  after  being 
lifted  from  the  soil. 


24  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

truth  seems  to  lie  between  these  extremes.  "With  per- 
sons of  weak  bodies  or  nervous  temperaments,  the  use  of 
tobacco  is  unquestionably  injurious,  while  persons  of 
full  habit  and  sluggish  minds  frequently  derive  great 
benefit  from  its  use. 

Norman  Kerr,  M.  D.,  F.  L.  S.,  of  London,  Eng- 
land, who  is  probably  the  highest  authority  among  the 
English-speaking  peoples  in  all  matters  pertaining  to 
the  effects  of  narcotics  and  stimulants  upon  the  human 
system,  says  :  "  With  persons  of  a  certain  temperament 
the  use  of  tobacco  produces  concentration  of  thought, 
mental  satisfaction,  protection  against  infection,  and 
domestic  happiness."  "There  are  persons,"  he  says, 
"  so  constituted  that  the  intellectual  powers  require  to 
be  arrested  and  concentrated  before  any  definite  intel- 
lectual effort  can  be  even  entered  upon.  To  such  per- 
sons tobacco  smoking  has  proved  invaluable,  the  advan- 
tages far  outweighing  the  disadvantages.  No  other 
substance,  narcotic  or  anaesthetic,  is  yet  known  which 
would  serve  this  purpose  and  do  so  little  damage." 
"Were  tobacco  not  known,"  he  continues,  "the  idiosyn- 
crasies of  snch  individuals  would  interfere  with  the 
achievement  and  excellence  of  their  work.  All  those 
with  whom  tobacco  does  not  disagree  realize  fully  the 
pleasure  and  mental  satisfaction  afforded  by  its  use." 

"No  language,"  says  Dr.  Kerr,  "can  accurately 
describe  the  comfort  enjoyed  from  a  pipe,  when  exposed 
to  severe  weather  in  trenches,  or  the  power  it  has  to 
stay  the  stomach-crave  when  no  food  is  to  be  had,  and 
this  action  of  tobacco,  under  such  circumstances,  cannot 
be  harmful." 

Tobacco,  as  a  powerful  and  efficient  disinfectant, 
has  long  been  known,  and  within  recent  years  this  has 
been  fully  demonstrated  by  an  ingenious  series  of  exper- 
iments performed  by  Tazzinari,  of  Rome,  which  are 
reported  in  the  Annual  of  Universal  Medical  Science  for 


THE   USE    OF   THE  WEED.  25 

1892.  Tobacco  smoke  was  passed  from  ten  to  thirty  min- 
utes through  the  interior  of  hollow  bells  lined  with  gelatin 
containing  disease  germs,  and  it  was  found  that  the  bacilli 
of  Asiatic  cholera  and  of  pneumonia  were  destroyed. 

Dr.  Kerr  says  that,  though  not  having  used  tobacco 
for  many  years,  he  would  not  think  of  going  through  a 
yellow-fever  ward,  unless  after  a  full  meal,  without  a 
lighted  pipe  or  cigar  or  cigarette.  "There  are  many 
persons,"  he  continues,  "cultured  and  uncultured,  but 
especially  the  former,  who,  after  an  exhausting  day's 
work  with  head  or  hands,  are  so  worn  out  and  irritable 
that  everything  appears  wrong,  from  the  cooking  of  the 
food  to  the  playfulness  of  the  children,  but  who,  when 
they  have  had  a  smoke,  are  pleased  with  themselves  and 
all  the  world  besides." 

Dr.  Kerr,  after  long  and  patient  investigation,  car- 
ried on  through  years  under  the  most  favorable  condi- 
tions for  arriving  at  the  truth,  declares  that  tobacco 
never  impairs  or  destroys  moral  capacity  or  leads  to  of- 
fences against  morality  or  to  acts  of  criminal  violence. 
"The  poison  of  tobacco,"  he  says,  "has  effected  phys- 
ical injuries,  but  appears  to  leave  untouched  the  con- 
science and  the  moral  sense."  Nor  does  he  believe  the 
habit  of  using  tobacco  increases  the  desire  to  use  other 
stimulants  or  narcotics.  Indeed,  it  would  seem,  from 
the  concurrent  testimony  of  all  nations,  that  among 
those  in  which  tobacco  is  most  generally  used  there 
appears  to  be  the  least  liability  among  the  inhabitants 
to  contract  the  habit  of  using  morphine,  opium,  cocaine, 
hasheesh  and  other  obnoxious  and  more  injurious  drugs. 
So  it  may,  with  truth,  be  said  that  if  tobacco  has  no  other 
merit,  it  at  least  diminishes  the  desire  among  those 
habituated  to  its  use  of  wishing  to  substitute  more  dele- 
terious substances  in  its  place. 

An  almost  complete  answer  to  the  assertion  that 
tobacco  is  highly  injurious  to  the  health  of  those  who 


26  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

use  it,  is  found  in  the  fact  that  probably  seventy-five  per 
cent  of  the  male  population  in  Europe  and  America  uses 
tobacco  in  one  or  some  of  the  many  ways  it  is  prepared 
for  consumption,  while  not  over  one-tenth  of  the  female 
population  uses  it  in  any  form  whatever.  Yet  statistics 
show  that  men  are  as  healthy  as  women  in  every 
country. 

In  view  of  all  these  facts,  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  ^he  consumption  of  tobacco  will  continue  to 
increase  in  far  greater  ratio  than  population.  It  there- 
fore appears  to  be  one  of  the  safest,  surest  and  most 
profitable  crops  for  the  planter,  and  equally  established 
as  a  success  for  the  manufacturer  and  retailer. 


CHAPTER  III. 

VAEIETIES  OF  THE   TOBACCO   PLANT. 

Tobacco  belongs  to  the  nightshade  (Solanacece) 
family,  which  embraces  in  its  genera  a  number  of  well- 
known  plants  and  vegetables.  Among  them  are  red 
pepper,  Jamestown  or  jimson  weed,  petunia,  Irish  po- 
tato, tomato,  egg  plant  and  tobacco.  The  genus  Nico- 
tiana  is  of  American  origin,  and  embraces  fifty  or  more 
species,  one  of  which,  Tabacum,  supplies  nearly  all  the 
tobacco  of  commerce.  The  tobacco  plant  (Nicotiana 
Tabacum}  grows  from  two  to  nine  feet  high,  with  wide- 
spreading  leaves,  ovate,  oblong  or  lanceolate  in  form. 
The  leaves  are  alternately  attached  to  the  stalk  spirally, 
so  that  the  ninth  leaf  overhangs  the  first,  and  the  tenth 
leaf  the  second.  The  distance  between  the  leaves,  on 
the  stalk,  is  about  two  inches,  in  ordinary  varieties. 
The  flowers  are  in  large  clusters,  with  corollas  of  rose 
color,  or  white  tinged  with  pink,  and  about  two  inches 
long,  funnel-shaped,  with  inflated  throats.  Tobacco  is 
a  rank,  acrid  narcotic,  viscidly  pubescent,  leaves  and 
stalk  covered  with  soft,  downy  hair.  The  seed  pods 
have  two  valves. 

In  Mexico  and  tropical  countries  the  tobacco  plant 
becomes  perennial.  The  writer  has  seen  it  growing  in 
the  deep,  narrow  valleys,  or  barrancas,  of  the  Sierra  Madre 
mountains  in  Mexico,  without  cultivation.  The  same 
stalk  sends  forth  new  sprouts  from  year  to  year,  the 
leaves  from  which  are  gathered  by  the  natives  just  before 
the  seed  matures,  cured  in  the  sun  to  a  dull,  greenish 
color,  and  when  crumbled,  are  used  by  the  peons  and 
27 


PLATE  III.     HAVANA    8EEDLEAF  (topped  plant). 

Photographed  from  same  field  and  at  same  time  as  Plate  IV.  Hijiht 
of  plant,  4J feet;  number  of  merchantable  leaves  on  average  topped 
plant,  15  to  18.  Top  leaves  are  from  22  1o  27  inches  long,  and  from 
14  to  16  Inches  wide;  middle  leaves  28  to  34  inches  long,  16  to  19 
inches  wide;  bottom  leaves  20  to  25  inches  long,  and  11  to  15  inches 
wide. 


VARIETIES   OF  THE   PLANT.  29 

Indians  for  cigarette  smoking.  The  inner,  or  softer 
portions,  of  the  corn  shucks,  or  husks,  are  employed  for 
wrappers  for  the  cigarettes.  The  species  found  in  Mex- 
ico growing  wild  is  very  much  branched,  and  is  supposed 
to  be  the  Nicotiana  rustica,  which  was  extensively  cul- 
tivated by  the  ancient  Mexicans,  and  gradually  spread 
northward.  It  is  stated  that  a  plant  of  this  species, 
even  now,  is  occasionally  found  growing  wild  in  New 
York,  and  is  looked  upon  as  a  relic  of  the  cultivation  of 
tobacco  by  the  Indians.  It  is  more  hardy  than  the  com- 
mon species,  and  it  has  ovate  leaves  attached  to  the 
stalk  by  long,  naked  stems,  similar  to  those  of  the  fern. 
It  has  dull  greenish-yellow  flowers.  Some  of  this  spe- 
cies is  cultivated  in  Germany,  Sweden  and  Russia,  by 
the  peasantry.  The  Turkish,  Hungarian  and  Latakia 
tobacco  is  probably  of  this  species. 

Another  species  is  cultivated  in  Shiraz,  Persia, 
known  as  Nicotiana  Persica.  It  has  white  flowers,  and, 
unlike  the  last  mentioned,  the  leaves,  at  the  point  of 
junction,  almost  enwrap  the  stalk.  This  tobacco,  when 
cured,  has  a  yellowish  color,  is  mild  in  flavoj,  and  is 
almost  exclusively  used  for  pipe  smoking. 

A  variety  known  as  Yara  is  cultivated  in  Cuba.  It 
is  probably  the  species  known  as  Nicotiana  repanda. 
It  has  a  totally  different  flavor  from  the  Havana.  It  is 
mostly  grown  for  home  consumption.  One  or  two  other 
species  have  been  cultivated,  to  some  extent,  but  they 
hardly  deserve  mention. 

No  plant  is  so  easily  modified  by  climate,  soil,  and 
different  methods  of  cultivation,  as  tobacco.  Climate 
imparts  flavor ;  soil  determines  texture.  The  nearly 
inodorous  product  of  the  seedleaf  districts  of  our  North- 
ern States  (north  of  the  40th  degree  of  latitude),  if 
planted  South,  acquires,  in  a  few  generations,  the  sweet- 
ness of  the  Southern  tobacco.  In  amplitude  of  leaf  it 
decreases,  but  increases  in  thickness,  sweetness,  and  in 


30  TOBACCO  LEAP. 

the  time  required  for  ripening.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
the  sweet  Havana  or  Virginia  tobacco  is  grown  in  Con- 
necticut or  Pennsylvania,  it  becomes,  year  by  year,  more 
delicate  in  texture,  and  more  leafy  and  less  sweet.  The 
fibers  grow  small,  but  the  thickness  of  the  leaf  decreases, 
and  in  time  it  makes  a  fine  wrapper,  but  a  poor  filler. 
It  also  grows  quicker  and  ripens  earlier  than  it  did 
further  South.  Attempts  have  often  been  made,  in  the 
South,  [to  grow  the  seedleaf  tobacco,  but  always  with 
failure.  The  writer  once  sowed  seed  of  the  best  Penn- 
sylvania seedleaf  variety,  and  planted  a  crop  upon  soils 
in  Tennessee,  resembling,  in  all  particulars,  the  soils 
upon  which  it  is  grown  in  Pennsylvania.  The  very  first 
year,  the  leaves *narrowed  and  became  too  thick  for  cigar 
wrappers  ;  -the  color,  from  a  dark  brown,  became  a  cin- 
namon red  ;  the  aroma  changed  from  that  of  the  damp- 
ish cigar  odor  to  that  of  sweet  chewing  tobacco.  The 
comparatively  gumless  leaf  of  the  parent  became  a  rich, 
waxy  leaf  with  the  offspring.  And  this  was  the  result 
of  an  experiment  lasting  for  one  year  only.  The  modi- 
fication was  so  pronounced  that  no  one  would  have  taken 
it  for  a  seedleaf  variety.  The  Florida  seedleaf,  so 
called,  resembles  the  tobacco  of  Cuba  more  than  it  does 
the  tobacco  of  the  seedleaf  districts  of  the  North.  It 
is  thick,  heavy,  less  expensive,  and  not  so  delicate  of 
fiber,  but  often  very  fragrant,  with  an  odor  not  unlike 
that  of  the  Cuba  tobacco,  but  not  so  strong. 

The  long  period  of  growth,  in  the  Southern  States, 
gives  tobacco  ample  time  for  the  elaboration  in  its  vesic- 
ular system  of  the  oils  and  waxes  and  gums  that  contrib- 
ute to  its  sweetness  and  fragrance.  Even  saccharine  juices 
have  been  found  stored  up,  in  large  quantity,  in  some  of 
the  yellow  tobacco  of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia.  We 
infer,  therefore,  that  two  causes  are  constantly  in  opera- 
tion to  increase  the  number,  or  modify  the  character, 
of  existing  varieties.  These  are  soil  and  climate. 


VARIETIES  OF  THE  PLANT.  31 

Another  cause,  still  greater,  perhaps,  and  one  that 
has  a  more  powerful  effect  in  determining  the  shape  of 
the  leaves  and  the  peculiarities  of  the  plant,  is  the  cross- 
fertilization  of  different  varieties.  From  two  varieties, 
the  one  with  a  narrow  leaf,  and  the  other  with  a  broad 
leaf,  by  cross-fertilization  may  be  produced  one  partak- 
ing of  the  character  of  both.  Planted  on  the  same  farm, 
and  even  in  the  same  field,  they  will  produce  some 
modification  of  variety  in  the  succeeding  crop,  although 
the  utmost  pains  may  be  taken  to  prevent  this,  by  turn- 
ing out  the  seed  heads  of  the  two  varieties  as  far  apart 
as  possible.  Any  one  who  has  grown  a  few  hundred 
plants  of  Cuba  tobacco,  for  domestic  use,  on  a  farm 
where  the  heavy  export  tobacco  is  produced  from  the 
Big  Orinoco,  the  Medley  Pryor,  or  the  Beat-All,  knows 
that  in  the  crop  of  the  succeeding  year  many  growing 
plants  will  be  found  with  the  sweetish  odor  of  the  Cuba 
tobacco,  growing  side  by  side  with  the  heavy  varieties. 

It  is  exceedingly  important,  therefore,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  readiness  with  which  the  varieties  mix,  that 
in  order  to  keep  a  desirable  variety  from  deterioration, 
no  two  varieties  shall  be  planted  upon  the  same  farm. 
Hundreds  of  modifications  of  varieties  have  thus  been 
made.  Darwin  made  some  exceedingly  interesting  ex- 
periments in  the  cross-fertilization  and  self-fertilization 
of  the  tobacco  plant,  from  which  he  drew  the  conclusion 
that  cross-fertilization  from  plants  grown  from  the  same 
seed  produces  deterioration  of  variety,  both  in  size  and 
weight. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  a  plant  is  cross-fertilized 
with  a  totally  different  variety,  grown  under  different 
conditions  of  climate  and  culture,  and  on  different  soils, 
the  improvement  was  manifest,  both  in  size  and 
weight.  This  improvement  was  shown  in  several  ways, 
"by  earlier  germination  of  the  crossed  seeds,  by  the 
more  rapid  growth  of  the  seedlings  while  quite  young, 


PLATE  iv.    HAVANA  SEEDLEAF  (complete  plant  in  flower). 

Grown  in  Connecticut  valley,  Massachusetts.  Hlght  6  feet  7  inches. 
Top  leaves  20  to  26  inches  long,  12  to  15  inches  wide;  middle  leaves 
15  to  17  by  28  to  33  inches ;  bottom  leaves  11  to  15  by  20  to  25  inches. 


VAEIETIES   OF  THE    PLANT.  33 

by  the  earlier  flowering  of  the  crossed  plants,  as  well  as 
by  the  greater  hight  which  they  ultimately  attain. 
The  superiority  of  the  crossed  plants  was  shown  still 
more  plainly  when  the  two  lots  were  weighed,  the  weight 
of  the  crossed  plants  to  that  of  the  self -fertilized  being 
as  160  to  37.  Better  evidence,"  he  concludes,  " could 
hardly  be  desired,  of  the  immense  advantage  derived 
from  a  cross  with  a  fresh  stock."  But  Darwin  neglected 
the  most  important  point,  and  that  is,  the  relative  value 
of  the  cured  products.  Strong  vitality  in  the  tobacco 
plant  does  not  ensure  a  high  quality  of  products. 

While  -this  tendency  of  the  varieties  to  mix  is  accom- 
panied with  trouble  in  preserving  the  purity  of  the  seeds 
of  desirable  varieties,  it  also  offers  opportunities  for  im- 
proving old,  or  of  creating  new,  varieties.  The  plant 
may  be  bred  for  qualities  desired  for  specific  purposes. 
In  the  districts  growing  wrappers,  width  and  fineness  of 
the  leaf  may  be  increased  by  cross-fertilization.  Where 
the  product  is  thick  and  heavy,  but  not  large,  the  cross- 
fertilization  with  a  plant  of  larger  leaf  may  result  in  a 
decided  improvement.  This  should  be  one  of  the  duties 
of  those  having  charge  of  agricultural  experiment 
stations. 

In  the  investigation  of  the  culture  and  curing  of 
tobacco,  by  the  census  of  1880,  more  than  one  hundred 
names  of  varieties  were  mentioned  in  the  schedules  re- 
turned. Probably  half  of  these  were  synonyms.  In  the 
list  below  are  given  the  names,  uses,  places  where  grown, 
and  peculiarities  of  growth  of  such  varieties  as  com- 
mended themselves  to  growers.  A  few  new  varieties 
have  been  introduced  since  1880,  of  which  the  names, 
uses  and  qualities  are  given  at  the  close  of  the  chapter. 

New  "varieties"  are  frequently  brought  to  notice, 

but  in  most  cases  prove,  upon  investigation,  to  be  merely 

variations  of  established  kinds.     Indeed,  it  is  difficult 

to  mark  the  line  between  distinct  and  indistinct  varie- 

3 


34  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

ties.  We  by  no  means  contend  that  absolute  perfection 
has  yet  been  attained  in  any  of  our  varieties  of  tobacco, 
and  feel  confident  that  the  great  development  of  tobacco 
culture  which  is  coming  in  America,  will  be  character- 
ized by  marked  improvements  in  the  desirable  features 
of  the  different  classes  of  leaf. 

PRINCIPAL    VARIETIES    OF    TOBACCO    GROWN    IN 
THE  UNITED  STATES. 

ADCOCK. — Wide  space  between  leaves ;  ripens  uni- 
formly from  top  to  bottom ;  used  for  yellow  wrappers 
and  fillers  for  plug;  excellent  fine  smokers  ^  grown  in 
North  Carolina. 

BADEN. — Short  leaves,  light,  inclined  to  be  chaffy  ; 
cures  a  fine  yellow,  but  liable  to  green  spots ;  used  for 
plug  wrappers  and  fillers,  smokers ;  grown  in  Maryland. 

BALTIMORE  CUBA. — Long  leaf,  good  body,  fine, 
silky  texture,  tough  ;  yields  well ;  sweats  a  uniform  color  ; 
disseminated  by  the  United  States  agricultural  depart- 
ment ;  used  for  cigar  wrappers  and  fillers ;  grown  in 
Ohio  (Miami  valley). 

BAT. — Large,  heavy  leaf,  red  spangled  and  yellow 
when  cured ;  used  for  manufacturing  and  shipping ; 
grown  in  Maryland. 

BEAT-ALL  (same  as  Williams). — Large,  spreading 
leaf,  fine  fiber,  dark,  rich  and  gummy ;  export  to  Great 
Britain  and  Germany ;  well  cured,  makes  fine  Swiss 
wrappers.  Tennessee,  Virginia. 

BELKNAP.  —  Sub-variety  of  Connecticut  seedleaf ; 
same  as  Connecticut  seedleaf.  Connecticut,  Massachu- 
setts, New  York. 

BULLFACE. — Sub-variety  of  the  Pryor ;  large,  heavy 
leaf,  oval  shaped,  tough,  small  stems  and  fibers ;  a  lux- 
uriant grower;  heavy  shipping,  makes  good  wrappers 
for  cheap  plug.  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee. 


VARIETIES  OF  THE   PLAINT.  35 

BULLOCK. — Broad,  smooth  leaf,  with  no  ruffle  on 
stem ;  yellow  wrappers  and  plug  fillers.  North  Carolina. 

BTJBLEY,  WHITE. — Long,  broad  leaf,  white  in  ap- 
pearance while  growing;  grows  flat,  with  points  of 
leaves  hanging  down,  and  often  touches  the  ground ; 
fancy  wrappers,  plug  fillers,  and  for  cutting  purposes. 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  Virginia,  Maryland,  Missouri,  Indiana. 
Plates  VII,  VIII.  There  is  another  variety  of  the  White 
Burley  with  narrow  leaf,  twisted  bud,  not  so  tender,  and 
the  ends  of  the  leaves  do  not  touch  the  ground. 
Plate  IX. 

CLARDY. — Large,  smooth,  heavy  leaf,  extremely 
broad ;  stalks  long ;  common  plug,  exported  for  Swiss 
wrappers  and  consumption  in  the  Eegie  countries. 
Kentucky,  Tennessee. 

CONNECTICUT  SEEDLEAF. — Broad  leaf,  strong,  thin, 
elastic,  silky,  small  fibers,  sweetish  taste,  light  in 
color;  cigar  wrappers,  lower  grades  for  binders  and 
fillers.  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New  Hampshire, 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota, 
also  in  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Florida. 

CONNECTICUT  BROADLEAF  (East  Hartford  Broad- 
leaf). — Modification  of  above  ;  leaves  broader  in  propor- 
tion to  length ;  fibers  more  at  right  angles  to  midrib ; 
same  as  above.  Connecticut,  New  York,  Wisconsin. 
Plates  I,  II. 

CUBA. — Small  leaf,  grown  from  imported  seed;  re- 
tains much  of  the  aroma  of  Cuba-grown  tobacco ;  cigar 
wrappers,  fillers  and  binders.  Pennsylvania,  New  York, 
Wisconsin,  Florida  and  Louisiana. 

CUNNINGHAM. — Short,  broad  leaf,  thick  and  stalky 
growth  ;  fillers  and  smokers.  North  Carolina. 

DUCK  ISLAND.— Broad  leaf,  fine  appearance,  full 
grower ;  originated  from  Havana  seed ;  cigar  work. 
New  York,  Pennsylvania. 


PLATE  v.    Plant  Topped.  PLATE  vr.    Plant  in  Flower. 

SUMATRA  8EEDLEAF. 

From  a  photograph  taken  in  August,  1896,  of  a  field  in  Columbia  county, 
northern  Florida.  Hight  of  plant,  6  to  8  feet  when  topped,  or  8  to 
10  feet  when  in  flower.  Length  of  longest  leaf,  when  cured,  18  to 
20  inches ;  length  of  shortest  leaf,  7  to  8  inches ;  average  length,  14 
inches.  Width  of  longest  leaf,  10  to  12  inches  in  the  middle;  width 
of  shortest  leaf,  5  to  6  inches;  average  width,  8  inches.  Greatest 
number  of  leaves  on  best  plant,  40;  lowest,  20;  average,  80. 


VARIETIES  OF  THE  PLANT.  37 

FLANAGAN".  —  Similar  to  Little  Orinoco,  but 
broader  leaf,  finer  fiber,  silky  and  tough ;  fancy  wrap- 
pers, plug  fillers.  Virginia. 

FLORIDA. — Fine  texture,  silky,  thick  and  elastic; 
becomes  spotted  when  grown  upon  certain  soils,  with 
white  specks  when  ripening;  cigar  wrappers,  binders 
and  fillers. 

FREDERICK. — Akin  to  White  Stem;  rough  leaf, 
heavy  and  rich,  stands  up  well ;  mainly  for  export  to 
Europe.  Virginia  and  Tennessee. 

GLESSNER. — Large,  handsome  leaf,  fine  texture, 
soft  and  elastic ;  cigar  wrappers  and  fillers,  smokers. 
Pennsylvania,  New  York,  Wisconsin. 

GOOCH. — Broad,  round  leaf  ;  leaves  thick  on  stalk ; 
yellows  on  hill  when  ripe  ;  cures  easily ;  fancy,  bright 
export,  and  domestic  wrappers  and  smokers.  Virginia, 
North  Carolina.  A  favorite  variety  in  North  and  South 
Carolina. 

GOURD  LEAF. — Broad,  short,  fine  and  silky  leaf, 
yellows  on  hill ;  plug  wrappers  and  fillers,  smokers. 
Virginia. 

GOVERNOR  JONES'. — Long,  narrow  leaf,  of  good 
body  ;  plug  wrappers  and  fillers,  and  for  common  smok- 
ing. Kentucky. 

HAVANA  SEED. — Very  thin,  fine  leaf,  fine  texture, 
delicate  flavor;  cigar  wrappers.  Connecticut,  Massa- 
chusetts, Pennsylvania,  Wisconsin,  Ohio.  Plates  III,  IV. 

HESTER. — Broad-shouldered,  heart-shaped  leaf,  fine 
fiber,  silky,  cures  very  bright;  plug  wrappers,  fillers 
and  smokers.  A  great  favorite  in  North  and  South 
Carolina  for  yellow  tobacco. 

HICKORY  LEAF. — Fine  fiber  and  texture,  cures  up 
very  bright;  plug  work,  smokers  and  shipping.  West 
Virginia. 


38  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

JOHNSON  GREEN. — Said  to  be  a  cross  of  Orinoco 
and  White  Stem ;  large,  heavy  leaf,  strong  flavor ;  strips 
and  shipping  leaf.  Virginia. 

KITE-FOOT. — Bather  short,  wide  leaf,  thin,  apt  to 
cure  a  greenish  color  unless  fully  ripe  ;  for  very  common 
cigars  ;  culture  decreasing.  Indiana. 

LACKS. — Heavy  weight  on  strong  soils ;  used  for 
making  yellow  tobacco  in  Virginia,  and  heavy  tobacco 
in  Kentucky ;  well  colored,  broad  leaf,  fine  fiber ;  a 
strong  grower.  Kentucky,  Virginia.  Plate  XIV. 

LITTLE  DUTCH. — Very  narrow  leaf,  small,  thick 
and  short,  in  flavor  resembling  Yara  tobacco  ;  for  bind- 
ers and  fillers  for  cigars ;  once  very  popular  in  the 
Miami  valley  of  Ohio,  but  now  discarded,  along  with 
seedleaf,  and  Zimmer's  Spanish  is  mainly  grown. 

LONG  GREEN. — Coarse  and  heavy,  vigorous  grower ; 
heavy  shipping  leaf.  Virginia. 

LANCASTER  BROADLEAF. — Upright  grower,  deli- 
cate, silky  fiber ;  cigar  wrappers,  binders  and  fillers, 
smokers.  Pennsylvania,  Wisconsin. 

LOVELADT. — Long,  dark,  narrow  leaf,  very  heavy ; 
export,  grown  for  African  shippers.  Virginia,  Tennes- 
see, Indiana. 

MANN. — Leaf  of  good  body,  heavy  and  gummy; 
plug  wrappers  and  fillers,  export.  North  Carolina. 

ORINOCO,  SHORT. — Broad  leaf,  upright  growth  and 
open  habit,  light  colored,  much  ruffled ;  plug  wrappers 
and  fillers,  for  strips  and  for  export  leaves.  Virginia, 
Missouri. 

ORINOCO,  BIG. — Short,  broad  leaf,  doubtless  orig- 
inally same  as  last  named ;  sweet  plug  wrappers  and 
fillers,  export.  Virginia,  Missouri,  North  Carolina, 
Tennessee,  West  Virginia. 

ORINOCO,  YELLOW. — Long,  narrow,  tapering  leaf, 
fine  texture,  stands  up  well ;  principally  for  plug  work 


VARIETIES   OF  THE   PLAXT.  39 

and  smokers  ;  sweetest  variety  grown.  Virginia,  Mary- 
land, North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  West  Virginia,  Mis- 
souri. 

PENNSYLVANIA  SEEDLEAF.  —  Coarser  and  darker 
than  Connecticut  seedleaf ;  used  for  some  purposes  and 
grown  in  same  States. 

PEBIQUE. — Medium-sized  leaf,  fine  fiber,  small  stem, 
tough,  gummy  and  glossy ;  smoking,  chewing,  cigars 
and  cigarettes,  for  mixing  with  other  kinds.  Louisiana. 

PITTSYLVANIA,  YELLOW.  —  Medium  size,  leaves 
elongated,  good  distance  apart,  fine  texture,  small,  tough 
stems ;  fine  wrappers  and  fillers,  good  export  variety. 
West  Virginia. 

PEYOB,  BLUE. — Large,  fine  leaf,  long,  and  well 
proportioned,  good  color,  slightly  ruffled ;  cigar  and 
plug  fillers  ;  stemmers  for  export.  Virginia,  North  Car- 
olina, Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Missouri,  Indiana. 

PRYOK,  SILKY. — Long,  sharp-pointed  leaf,  grows 
thin  on  the  stalk,  with  a  leaf  very  tough  and  pliant 
when  cured  ;  plug  wrappers  and  fillers.  North  Carolina 
and  Virginia.  See  Plates  XII  and  XIII. 

PRYOR,  YELLOW. — Heavy,  wide  leaf,  fine  texture, 
fine,  bright  color,  tough,  weighs  well ;  cigar  and  plug 
wrappers  and  fillers ;  stemmers  for  export.  Same  as 
last. 

PRYOR,  WHITE  (or  Medley  Pry  or). — Very  broad 
leaf,  soft  and  silky  texture  and  tough  fiber ;  a  beautiful 
grower ;  plug  wrappers  and  fillers.  Virginia. 

SHOESTRING. — Heavy  leaf,  rather  narrow,  long  and 
large  stem  ;  dark  navy  plug  ;  good  shipping  leaf.  Ten- 
nessee, Kentucky,  Missouri,  Virginia. 

SLEEK  STEM.— Large,  long  leaf,  heavy  weigher,  no 
ruffles;  heavy,  dark  fillers,  shipping  leaf.  Tennessee. 

SPANISH  SEED. — Uniform,  dark  color,  medium 
size  leaf,  ripens  ten  days  earlier  than  other  varieties; 


PLATE  VII.     WHITE  BURLEY  TOBACCO  (topped  plant). 

Ready  for  cutting,  slightly  wilted.  Hight,  4  feet  4  inches.  Fifteen 
leaves  on  plant;  top  leaves,  28  inches  long;  center  leaves,  38  inches 
long;  bottom  leaves,  36  inches.  Grown  in  Greene  county,  east 
Tennessee. 


VARIETIES  OF  THE  PLANT.  41 

highly  prized  for  dark  cigar  wrappers.  New  York,  Illi- 
nois, Wisconsin. 

SUMATRA  SEED. — Newest  of  all  varieties  of  cigar 
leaf.  Grown  in  Florida,  from  seed  imported  from  Su- 
matra. Leaf  light  in  weight  and  color;  not  long,  com- 
pared to  other  seedleaf,  and  much  narrower,  with  fine 
ribs.  Promises  to  be  very  popular  with  cigar  manufac- 
turers. See  article  on  Tobacco  in  Florida,  also  Plates 
V  and  VI. 

THICKSET. — Leaf  long,  pointed,  narrow,  coarse 
fiber';  very  short  stalk,  coarse  and  heavy  ;  common  plug- 
work  and  shipping.  Kentucky,  Missouri,  Maryland, 
West  Virginia,  Tennessee,  eastern  Ohio. 

TWIST  BUD. — Heavy,  large  leaf,  screw-shaped,  ter- 
minal stem  ;  export  mainly,  also  plug  fillers.  Kentucky, 
Missouri,  Maryland. 

VALLANDIGHAM.  —  Large,  pointed,  smooth  leaf ; 
cigar  wrappers  and  fillers,  smokers.  Wisconsin. 

WAND. — Another  name  for  Lacks,  which  see. 

WHITE  STEM  ORINOCO. — Leaf  long,  slender,  droop- 
ing, tough  and  fibrous,  largest  leaf  grown  ;  yellow  plug 
wrappers,  strips  and  shipping  leaf.  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina. 

WILLIAMS. — Same  as  Beat-All.  Grown  in  Tennes- 
see for  twenty-five  years  as  Williams ;  British  and  Ger- 
man export.  Tennessee. 

WILSON'S  HYBRID.— Said  to  be  an  improved  Ha- 
vana. Erect  habit,  easy  of  cultivation ;  cigar  wrappers, 
binders  and  fillers.  Grown  very  generally  in  New  York. 
"Little  Spanish,"  and  "Corn-Cross  Havana,"  are  varie- 
ties of  this  type  that  have  a  local  popularity. 

YELLOW  MAMMOTH. — Very  large  leaf ;  rapid  grower, 
yields  largely ;  stemmed  for  export,  and  used  for  Swiss 
wrappers.  Tennessee.  Plates  X  and  XI. 


42  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

ZIMMER'S  SPANISH. — Much  like  Wilson's  Hybrid 
Havana.  Generally  grown  in  the  Miami  valley,  in  Ohio, 
and  also  in  Wisconsin. 

NEW  VARIETIES. 

Since  1880,  the  following  new  varieties  for  the  grow- 
ing of  yellow  and  mahogany  manufacturing  leaf  have 
been  originated  by  cross-fertilization. 

RAGLAND'S  CONQUEROR. — Grown  in  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia  and  Tennessee.  This 
is  now  a  standard  variety. 

BONANZA. — A  White  Burley  cross  on  the  Yellow 
Orinoco,  said  to  possess  the  qualities  of  both  parents ; 
beautifully  blended,  and  very  popular  with  manufactur- 
ers, being  tougher  than  the  White  Burley,  and  more 
porous  than  the  Orinoco ;  very  hardy. 

SAFRANO. — A  cross  of  the  Hyco  on  White  Burley. 
The  color  resembles  the  saffron  rose,  it  being  a  rich  saf- 
fron color ;  it  has  a  soft,  silky  texture,  and  delightful 
flavor. 

GOLD  FINDER. — Another  cross  of  the  Yellow  Ori- 
noco and  the  White  Burley.  It  is  almost  as  white  as 
the  White  Burley,  and  has  the  shape  and  habits  of 
growth  of  the  Orinoco. 

BULLION. — A  White  Burley  cross  on  the  Hester ;  a 
broad  leafed,  stately  plant,  well  formed  and  fine  fibered. 
It  resembles  the  Hester  in  habit,  but  the  leaves  are 
larger  and  grow  farther  apart  on  the  stalk.  It  has  a 
fine  texture  and  great  absorptive  capacity. 

CLIMAX. — A  cross  of  the  White  Burley  on  the  Ster- 
ling. This  has  not  been  much  tried,  but  it  is  thought 
to  be  an  acquisition  to  the  bright  list. 

RAGLAND'S  IMPROVED  YELLOW  ORINOCO  has  been 
more  extensively  planted  in  recent  years  for  the  yellow 
type  than  any  other  variety.  In  its  habit  of  growth  it 
does  not  differ  very  much  from  the  Yellow  Orinoco. 


VARIETIES   OF   THE   PLANT.  43 

HONDURAS. — Used  in  the  yellow-tobacco  districts 
for  growing  the  bright  mahogany.  It  is  a  vigorous 
grower  and  very  healthy. 

Several  old  varieties,  as  the  Yellow  Pryor,  the  Hes- 
ter, the  Gooch,  and  the  original  White  Burley,  are  said 
to  have  been  improved  by  careful  culture  and  cross-fer- 
tilization, by  the  late  R.  L.  Ragland,  of  Virginia,  for  a 
long  time  the  best  known  and  one  of  the  most  successful 
tobacco  growers  in  the  yellow  belt. 

Among  the  new  varieties  of  merit  for  dark,  rich  ex- 
port tobacco  recently  originated,  may  be  mentioned  the 
Kentucky  Yellow,  one  of  the  largest  varieties  known, 
combining  weight  with  fine  texture. 

Every  one  of  the  varieties  mentioned  in  this  list  has 
its  excellences  and  its  advocates.  Two  farmers,  living 
side  by  side,  upon  the  same  soils,  will  often  differ  in 
their  preferences,  and  will  grow  continuously  for  many 
years  different  varieties  from  each  other.  Each  variety 
has  some  good  points,  and  is  deficient  in  others,  and 
from  this  cause  the  great  difference  in  opinion  as  to 
merits  arises. 

In  the  South,  the  favorite  selections  among  a  ma- 
jority of  planters,  for  the  purposes  indicated,  are  the 
following:  For  yellow  tobacco:  Gooch,  Broadleaf 
Orinoco,  or  White  Stem  Orinoco,  as  it  is  sometimes 
called,  Yellow  Orinoco,  Hester,  Bradley,  Tilly,  Ster- 
ling, Yellow  Pryor,  Lacks,  Primus,  Tuckahoe.  For 
manufacturing  purposes,  flue,  sun  and  air  cured  :  Bo- 
nanza, Flanagan,  Little  Orinoco,  Sterling,  Hyco,  Hes- 
ter, Sweet  Orinoco  and  Bradley  on  siliceous  loams,  and 
White  Burley  on  strong  limestone  soils.  For  mild  chew- 
ing tobacco  and  smokers:  Sweet  Orinoco  on  siliceous 
soils,  and  White  Burley  on  limestone  lands.  For  heavy 
shipping  leaf:  Blue  Pryor,  Medley  Pryor,  Beat-All, 
Yellow  Mammoth,  and  Kentucky  Yellow;  the  Shoe- 
string is  largely  grown  for  shipping  abroad,  though  very 


PLATE  vni.   WHITE  BARLEY  TOBACCO  (complete  or  seed  plant). 

From  same  farm  as  Plate  VII.    Hight,  6  feet.    Top  leaves,  22  incht 

llong;  center  leaves,  30  inches  long. 


VARIETIES   OF  THE   PLANT.  45 

narrow.  For  heavy  stemming:  Lacks,  Yellow  Mam- 
moth, Beat-All,  Orinoco  Broadleaf,  Blue  Pryor,  Mor- 
row and  Kentucky  Yellow.  For  mahogany  wrappers, 
cutters,  fillers  and  bright  smokers,  the  same  varieties 
are  grown  as  for  yellow  tobacco,  though  some  growers 
believe  that  a  greater  proportion  of  good  wrappers  is 
made  from  some  of  the  new  varieties  bred  by  Mr.  Rag- 
land.  Among  those  most  heartily  commended  are : 
Conqueror,  Eagland's  Improved  Yellow  Orinoco,  Bullion 
and  the  Long  Leaf  Gooch.  It  should  always  be  remem- 
bered that  varieties  grown,  even  for  specific  purposes, 
will  do  better  on  some  soils  than  on  others.  And  every 
planter  ought  to  test  several  varieties  on  his  farm,  in 
order  to  ascertain  just  which  will  give  the  best  results, 
quality,  quantity  and  demand  considered. 


CHAPTEK  IV. 

CLASSIFICATION   OF  THE  TOBACCO   GROWN   IN  THE 
UNITED    STATES,    AND   THE   MARKETS   FOR   IT. 

The  cured  product  only  of  the  tobacco  plant  is  of 
marketable  value.  Each  distinct  soil  formation,  aided 
by  climatic  conditions,  gives  peculiar  qualities  to  the 
cured  leaf,  as  to  texture,  flavor,  color  and  special  fitness 
for  varied  uses  and  for  different  markets.  The  ability 
to  cultivate  the  plant,  or  to  cure  the  product,  so  as  to 
give  it  such  qualities  as  to  make  it  desirable,  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  the  grower,  and  upon  his  skill  in 
this  depend  his  profits. 

In  its  green  state  there  are  many  varieties  of  tobacco 
in  which  peculiarities  of  growth,  size,  or  time  of  matur- 
ing, are  the  distinguishing  features.  Commercial  cir- 
cles recognize  in  the  cured  product  classes,  types  and 
grades.  The  basis  of  a  class  is  its  adaptation  for  a  cer- 
tain use ;  the  basis  of  a  type  is  the  combination  of  cer- 
tain qualities,  or  properties,  in  the  leaf,  as  color, 
strength,  elasticity,  body,  flavor,  etc.,  or  in  the  meth- 
ods employed  in  curing,  as  sun-cured,  air-cured,  flue- 
cured,  or  cured  by  open  fires.  Grades  represent  the 
different  degrees  of  excellence  in  a  type,  as  lugs,  low- 
leaf,  medium,  good,  fillers,  binders  and  wrappers. 

To  illustrate  more  fully :  The  heavy  shipping  to- 
bacco is  a  class  adapted  to  the  requirements  of  the  con- 
sumers in  foreign  markets.  The  yellow  tobacco  is  a  type 
that  may  be  used  for  exportation,  for  smoking  and  for 
chewing,  thus  belonging  to  several  classes.  There  may 
be  eight  or  ten  grades  of  yellow  tobacco,  each  differing 
46 


CLASSIFICATION   AND   MARKETS.  47 

from  the  other  in  points  of  excellence,  but  all  belonging 
to  the  same  type. 

A  district  may  produce  only  one  type,  which  may 
be  referred  to  several  classes ;  that  is,  it  may  be  suitable 
for  exportation,  for  chewing,  smoking,  or  the  making 
of  snuff. 

A  district  may  produce  many  types  of  the  same 
class,  as  in  New  England,  where  several  types  of  seed- 
leaf  and  Havana  seed  are  grown,  yet  all  belong  to  the 
class  of  cigar  tobacco  and  are  used  solely  for  that  pur- 
pose. A  district  may  also  produce  only  one  class  of  one 
type. 

The  classification  first  made  in  the  census  reports  of 
,  1880  has  given  the  greatest  satisfaction  to  the  tobacco 
trade,  and  it  is  appended  below,  with  a  few  changes  ren- 
dered necessary  by  changes  in  demand.  It  must  be 
observed,  however,  that  many  of  these  classes  are 
interchangeable. 

CLASS  I. 

CHEWING    TOBACCO. 

(a)    Tobacco  for  fine  cut  and  plug  fillers. 

Fine  cut  Burley. 

Fine  cut  Mason  county. 

White  Burley  fillers. 

Red  Burley  fillers  (plug  work). 

Virginia  sun  and  air  cured  fillers. 

Virginia  flue-cured  fillers. 

North  Carolina  flue-cured  red  fillers. 

Carolina  and  east  Tennessee  flue-cured  yellow  fillers. 

Missouri  air-cured  fillers. 

Fire-cured  fillers. 

Tennessee  and  Kentucky  air-cured  fillers. 

Green  River  fillers. 

(6)    Tobacco  used  for  plug  tvrappers. 

Virginia  yellow  and  mahogany. 
North  Carolina  yellow  and  mahogany. 
South  Carolina       "          "  " 

East  Tennessee      "          "  " 

West  Virginia 

Clarksville  and  Missouri  dark  and  red. 
Kentucky  and  Ohio  Burley. 


PLATE  IX.     WHITE  BTJBLEY  (topped). 

Wilted  when  photographed,  but  the  peculiar  appearance  of  the  nar- 
row-leafed or  twist-bud  sub-variety  is  well  represented.  Grown  at 
Kentucky  experiment  station,  Fayette  county,  on  soil  not  espe- 
cially adapted  to  tobacco.  The  crop  on  this  exhausted  soil,  when 
fertilized  with  potash,  is  as  large  as  on  typical  tobacco  land. 
Hight  'of  this  plant,  35  inches ;  average  top  leaf,  21  inches  long,  8 
inches  wide;  middle  leaves,  32x11  inches;  lower  leaves,  smaller 
and  variable.  This  sub-variety  holds  its  leaves  straight  up,  while 
in  the  White  Burley,  shown  in  Plates  VII  and  VIII,  the  leaves  hang 
down,  often  touching  the  ground  when  ripe. 


CLASSIFICATION  AND  MARKETS.  49 

CLASS  IL 

TOBACCO    FOB    EXPORTATION, 
(a)   English  shippers. 

Bird's-Eye  cutting  leaf. 

Brown  roll  wrapper. 

Spinning  leaf. 

Heavy  cutter. 

Plug  wrapper. 

Plug  fillers. 

Navy  leaf. 

Irish  filler. 

Scotch  Elder. 

Scotch  and  Irish  spinners. 

A  large  portion  of  English  shippers  are  sent  abroad 
deprived  of  the  stem  or  midrib,  and  are  called  strips. 

(6)    Continental  shippers. 

French   Regie,  A's,  B's  and  C's. 

Italian,       "         "       "  " 

Austrian,   "         "       "  " 

Spanish,     "         "       "  " 

Germany :     German  Saucer,  German  Spinner,  Spangled  tobacco 

from  Ohio,  Maryland  and  "West  Virginia,  and  fat  lugs  for  smokers. 
Switzerland :    Swiss  wrappers  and  Swiss  fillers. 
Holland  or  the  Netherlands :    Dutch  Saucer. 
Belgium :    Belgian  cutter. 
Denmark,  Norway  and  Sweden :    Heavy  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 

types. 

(c)  African  shippers. 
Liverpool  African. 
Boston  " 
Gambia          " 

(d )  Mexico,  South  America  and  West  Indies. 
Baling  wrapper. 

Baling  filler. 

CLASS   III. 

PRODUCT    SUITABLE    FOR    THE    MAKING   OF    DOMESTIC    CIGARS, 
OR    FOR    THE    MANUFACTURE    OF    SMOKING    TOBACCO. 

Seedleaf  and  Havana  seed  grown  in  New  England,  Pennsylvania, 

New  York,  Ohio,  Wisconsin,  Illinois  and  Florida. 
White  Burley  iugs. 
American-grown  Havana. 
Perique. 

Lugs  from  the  yellow  and  heavy  tobacco  growing  districts. 
Indiana  and  Kentucky  cheroot  and  stogy  wrappers. 

4 


50  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

Fine-flbered  Clarksville  wrappers. 
Indiana  Kite-Foot. 
Little  Dutch,  of  Ohio. 

Going  into  a  more  minute  description  of  the  various 
members  of  the  different  classes,  we  begin  with — 
CLASS  I. 

CHEWING   TOBACCO. 

Fine  Cut  and  Plug  Fillers. — White  Burley  is  the 
product  of  a  new  variety  which  originated  in  Brown 
county,  Ohio,  in  1864,  as  has  been  already  described. 
There  are  two  sub-types  now  produced  from  the  White 
Burley  : 

1.  A  thin,   chaffy  leaf,  almost   destitute  of  gum 
and    oils.      This    is  used    for  manufacturing  fine-cut 
tobacco. 

2.  A  heavier  leaf,  with  more  body  and  more  gum, 
used  for  plug  fillers,  and  generally  called,  in  the  com- 
mercial world,  Red  Burley.     This  sub-type  is  soft,  elas- 
tic, spongy,  with  a  large  capacity  for  absorbing  the  sauces 
with  which  it  is  treated  in  the  process  of  manufacture. 
It  has  about  three  per  cent  of  nicotine,  which  is  about 
half  the  quantity  contained  in  the  heavy-shipping  to- 
bacco.    It  will  absorb,  without  dripping,  two  and  a  half 
times  its  weight  of  water.     It  is  not  naturally  so  sweet 
as  the  flue  and  sun  cured  tobacco  of  Virginia,  or  the 
air-cured   product   of    Missouri.      The  fine-cut   Mason 
county  tobacco  has  less  gum  than   any  other  tobacco 
grown  in  the  Burley  district. 

The  Red  Burley  fillers  are  not  so  bright  in  color  as 
the  White  Burley  cutting  leaf,  but  they  have  a  charac- 
teristic cinnamon  color. 

The  Virginia  sun  and  air  cured  fillers,  which  are 
chiefly  grown  in  the  counties  of  Caroline,  Hanover, 
Louisa,  Spottsylvania  and  Fluvanna,  in  Virginia,  consist 
of  a  leaf  of  medium  size,  light  brown  in  color,  very 
sweet  and  fragrant,  with  u  fair  proportion  of  gum  and 


CLASSIFICATION   AXD   MARKETS.  51 

oils.  This  sun  and  air  cured  tobacco  is  very  popular 
for  chewing,  on  account  of  its  peculiar  richness  of  flavor 
and  pleasantness  of  taste.  It  contains  about  3.2?  per 
cent  of  nicotine,  and  will  absorb,  without  dripping, 
about  twice  its  weight  in  water. 

The  most  popular  and  the  highest  priced  brands  of 
tobacco  are  manufactured  from  the  flue-cured  Virginia 
fillers  grown,  for  the  most  part,  in  Henry  and  Patrick 
counties,  Virginia,  but  mainly  in  Henry  county.  This 
product  is  of  medium  size,  brown  or  mahogany  in  color, 
fine  in  texture,  delicate  in  fiber,  oily  and  elastic.  It  is 
usually  made  from  the  variety  known  as  the  Little  Ori- 
noco, which  is  peculiar  in  the  irregularity  of  its  veins,  or 
smaller  fibers,  and  the  frequent  bifurcations  of  these 
fibers. 

The  best  North  Carolina  Bed  fillers,  resembling 
somewhat  those  grown  in  Henry  county,  Va.,  come  from 
Eockingham,  Guilford,  Forsyth,  Surry,  and  to  a 
smaller  extent  from  several  other  counties  in  the  west- 
ern section.  They  are  flue-cured,  of  a  cherry  red  in 
color,  with  whitish  fibers.  They  are  sweet,  tough  and 
leathery,  but  of  small  leaf  and  delicate  fibers.  They  are 
made  from  thoroughly  ripened  plants,  and  while  not 
great  absorbers  of  the  sauces  with  which  they  are 
treated  in  the  process  of  manufacture,  yet  they  are 
highly  popular  because  of  their  peculiarly  sweet,  natural 
flavor.  When  the  plants  are  cut  before  they  are  ripe, 
the  product  is  subject  to  "gray  veins,"  which  are  highly 
objectionable,  inasmuch  as  such  veins  do  not  disappear, 
or  blacken,  when  manufactured,  and  reveal  the  imma- 
turity of  the  product. 

The  yellow  fillers  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  and  of  east  Tennessee,  though  used,  to  some 
extent,  in  the  manufacture  of  chewing  tobacco,  are  yet 
wanting  in  the  natural  sweetness  and  toughness  of 
leaf,  which  are  so  much  to  be  desired  in  chewing  tobacco. 


PLATE    IXa.     WHITE    BURLEY  (topped). 

This  is  a  picture  of  a  plant  of  this  variety  somewhat  different  from 
the  plant  shown  in  Plate  IX,  although  belonging  to  the  narrow- 
leaf  variety  and  finer  type  of  the  White  Burley.  It  is  grown  on  a 
field  having  a  typical  blue  grass  soil,  in  Fayette  county,  Kentucky, 
well  suited  to  the  growth  of  White  Burley.  This  plant  was  3J  feet 
high;  top  leaf,  28  inches  long  and  8 inches  wide;  middle  leaves, 
31x9  inches. 


CLASSIFICATION   AND   MARKETS.  53 

The  Missouri  air-cured  fillers  make  what  is  called  a 
"tough,  sweet  chew,"  that  is  pleasant  to  the  taste,  but 
the  texture  of  the  leaf  is  not  so  delicate  or  silky  as  that 
of  the  Henry  county  flue-cured  tobacco,  nor  does  it  com- 
mand such  high  prices  in  the  market. 

A  chewing  tobacco  with  a  large  percentage  of  nico- 
tine, much  used  by  miners,  sailors,  lumbermen,  farm 
laborers,  and  others  employed  in  outdoor  work,  is  made 
of  the  strong,  new-land  tobacco  grown  in  the  heavy- 
shipping  districts,  and  even,  to  some  extent,  of  that 
grown  on  heavily  manured  plots.  This  product  rises 
sometimes  as  high  as  six  per  cent  in  nicotine,  and  is 
totally  unfit  for  use  by  delicate  persons,  or  those  having 
weak  nerves.  Owing  to  the  large  amount  of  gummy 
substances  stored  away  in  its  vascular  tissue,  it  rarely 
has  the  capacity  of  absorbing,  without  dripping,  more 
than  an  equal  weight  of  water. 

The  air-cured  fillers  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky, 
other  than  the  Burley,  are  of  light  to  medium  weight, 
not  coarse  in  texture  or  fiber,  but  far  from  being  as  del- 
icate as  the  flue-cured  products  of  Virginia.  This  prod- 
uct is  not  gummy  or  waxy,  but  it  has  a  mild,  sweet 
flavor,  free  from  acridity  or  bitterness,  porous  in  struc- 
ture, and  generally  of  a  brigbt,  pale- red  color.  It 
possesses  a  high  absorptive  capacity.  It  is  distinguished 
from  the  Burley  fillers  by  having  more  body,  with  less 
delicacy  of  fiber,  and  by  being  darker  in  color. 

Plug  Wrappers. — Equally  as  essential  for  making 
plug  tobacco,  are  plug  wrappers.  The  yellow  and  ma- 
hogany types  of  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina, 
east  Tennessee  and  portions  of  Kentucky,  may  be  con- 
sidered grades  of  the  yellow  type.  The  highest  grade  of 
yellow  wrappers  is  small  in  size,  lemon-yellow  in  color, 
soft  and  silky  to  the  feel,  with  yellow  or  white  fibers. 
It  sparkles  with  minute,  golden  colored  granules,  appar- 
ently sprinkled  on  the  upper  surface  of  the  leaf,  that 


54  TOBACCO   LEA.F. 

give  a  splendor  to  its  appearance,  especially  in  the  sun- 
light. Other  grades,  less  perfect  in  the  yellow  color,  fol- 
low this,  by  almost  imperceptible  gradations,  to  the  ma- 
hogany or  mottled  yellow  and  brown.  The  lemon 
colored  leaf  stands  at  the  head  as  a  wrapper  for  plug, 
especially  if  it  will  withstand  heavy  pressure  without 
blackening.  The  mahogany  and  red  wrappers  are  gen- 
erally larger  than  the  yellow  wrappers.  They  usually 
contain  a  large  proportion  of  oily  substances  in  their 
composition,  and  will  blacken  the  more  readily  under  a 
heavy  pressure.  The  absorptive  capacity  of  the  yellow 
wrapper  is  over  two  and  a  half  times  its  weight.  The 
dark  and  red  wrappers  of  the  Clarksville  (Tennessee) 
district,  as  well  as  those  of  Missouri,  have  a  strong  and 
elastic  texture,  heavy  in  body,  soft,  smooth  and  flexible 
in  structure,  of  fine  stem  and  fiber,  varying  in  color  from 
a  light  brown  to  that  of  port  wine.  The  leaf  must  be 
free  from  worm  cut  or  field  fire,  of  good  width,  and  of 
well  rounded  proportions.  These  wrappers  are  in  de- 
mand for  the  Canada  trade,  and  sometimes  by  the  man- 
ufacturers of  stogy  cigars. 

The  Burley  wrappers  grown  in  Mason  county,  Ken- 
tucky, are  distinguished  for  their  fineness,  softness, 
strength  and  elasticity.  In  color,  they  run  from  a  red  • 
dish-yellow  to  a  dark  brown.  The  best  grades  of  the 
White  Burley  product  of  Mason  county  make  excellent 
wrappers  for  plug  work. 

CLASS  II. 

EXPORT    TOBACCO. 

English  Shippers. — Great  Britain  furnishes  the  best 
foreign  market  for  American  tobacco.  The  United  King- 
dom, composed  of  England,  Scotland,  Ireland  and  Wales, 
took  the  following  quantities  of  American  tobacco  for 
the  years  named  :  For  1891,  62,945,623  pounds  ;  1892, 
54,594,449  pounds;  1893,  69,493,638  pounds;  1894, 


CLASSIFICATION    AND    MARKETS.  55 

83,273,149  pounds;  1895,  89,945,565  pounds.  Both 
leaf  and  strips  are  taken,  and  a  variable  quantity  is  re- 
exported.  Among  the  requirements  are  about  40,000 
hogsheads  of  Western  tobacco,  of  which  there  are  some 
28,000  hogsheads  of  Western  strips,  and  10,000  hogs- 
heads of  dried  leaf,  and  about  2,000  hogsheads  of  White 
Burley.  From  8,000  to  10,000  hogsheads  of  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina  leaf,  and  from  10,000  to  14,000 
hogsheads  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and  East  Ten- 
nessee strips  are  also  included  in  the  demand  for  the 
trade  and  consumption  in  the  United  Kingdom.  Within 
recent  years  the  consumption  of  leaf  tobacco  has  in- 
creased in  the  English  markets,  under  an  arrangement 
with  the  revenue  department  by  which  the  manufac- 
turer is  allowed  to  return  the  stems  into  the  hands  of  the 
proper  officer,  for  destruction  or  exportation.  In  some 
forms  of  manufacture,  the  stem  is  compressed  in  the  leaf 
into  a  thin  plate,  and  then  split,  so  as  to  divide  the  leaf 
into  two  parts. 

The  Bird's-Eye  cutter  is  the  only  type  used  exclu- 
sively in  the  leaf  in  English  consumption.  It  consists 
of  a  very  bright,  smooth,  thin  and  clean  leaf,  with  as 
little  gum  and  oil  as  possible.  The  color  of  both  the 
upper  and  under  sides  of  the  leaf  must  be  of  uniform 
and  similar  shades  of  bright  color,  and  the  stem  must  be 
of  a  brightish  brown  color  on  the  outside,  and  white  on 
the  inside,  or  upper  side,  of  the  leaf.  Each  section  into 
which  the  stem  is  cut  presents  an  appearance  on  the  cut 
surface  of  the  eye  of  a  bird,  and  hence  its  name.  This 
type,  formerly  grown  only  in  the  lower  Green  River  dis- 
trict of  Kentucky,  and  in  the  Clarksville  district,  is  now 
largely  grown  in  the  Burley  districts,  and  in  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina. 

Fine  Roll  wrapper  is  a  bright  red  or  full  bright  leaf, 
of  good  breadth,  thin  and  smooth  in  texture,  almost 
destitute  of  oil,  resembling  the  leaf  used  by  our  domes- 


PLATE  x.    HEAVY  SHIPPING  TOBACCO  (topped  ready  for  harvesting). 

Name  of  variety,  Yellow  Mammoth.  Might, 30  inches;  bottom  leaves, 
30  inches  long  and  19  inches  wide;  middle  leaves,  34x20  inches;  top 
leaves,  35x22  inches  wide.  The  lower  leaf  is  10  inches  from  the 
ground  ;  the  upper,  30  inches  from  the  ground.  Distance  between 
each  leaf  on  the  stalk,  2  2-9  inches.  Grown  in  Robertson  county, 
northern  Tennessee. 


CLASSIFICATION  AND  MARKETS.  57 

tic  manufacturers  for  making  fine  cut.  It  is  used  in 
England  as  a  wrapper  for  spinning  brown  roll.  The 
wrapper  is  filled  with  suitable  fillers,  and  the  whole  spun 
into  a  strand  about  one  inch  in  diameter.  This  is  coiled 
like  a  rope,  from  which  sections  are  cut  for  retail.  The 
filler  for  the  brown  roll  is  of  the  same  type  as  the  wrap- 
per, but  of  a  lower  grade.  The  midrib  for  this  roll  is 
always  removed. 

Spinning  leaf,  or  strips,  is  a  type  consisting  of  a 
long,  rich  and  oily  leaf,  of  full  brown  color,  good  weight 
and  body,  strong  and  elastic  in  texture,  and  of  general 
smoothness.  Brighter  colors  are  growing  in  demand  for 
spinning  leaf.  Formerly  the  "fatty"  types  of  the 
Clarksville  district  were  in  demand  for  this  purpose,  but 
the  requirements  of  the  German  market  depreciated 
their  value  so  much  that  less  oily  types  are  now  substi- 
tuted. The  strand  into  which  this  is  spun  is  of  a 
smaller  size  than  that  of  the  brown  roll.  A  still  smaller 
strand  is  spun,  called  Lady's  Twist,  which  is  consumed 
principally  in  Scotland,  Ireland  and  in  the  north  of 
England.  The  wrapper  for  the  latter  consists  of  a  smaller 
and  shorter  leaf,  but  of  the  same  general  quality  as  that 
used  for  the  larger  strand. 

There  is  a  coarsely  cut  manufactured  product,  known 
as  Shag,  much  used  in  England.  The  supply  of  to- 
bacco for  this  is  drawn  mainly  from  southern  Indiana 
and  the  Green  Eiver  district  of  Kentucky.  This  tobacco 
has  but  little  gum,  but  more  than  has  the  leaf  used  in  the 
United  States  for  making  fine  cut.  It  is  called  a  heavy 
cutter.  Substitutes  for  it  came  from  Japan,  Java,  Para- 
guay and  the  Dutch  possessions. 

Plug  wrappers  for  the  English  market  consist  of 
rich  brown  leaves,  smooth  in  structure,  medium  in  size, 
and  strong  and  elastic  in  texture.  Plug  wrappers  are  in 
limited  demand  in  the  United  Kingdom  because  the 
consumption  of  plug  tobacco  is  very  small.  Plug  fillers 


58  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

used  in  England  are  the  short,  common  and  imperfect 
leaves  of  the  same  general  character  as  the  wrappers. 

The  Navy  plug,  for  use  in  the  English  navy,  was 
made  of  the  best  of  Green  River  redried  fillers,  until  the 
substitution,  in  a  large  part,  of  the  White  Burley  fillers. 
These  now  compose  the  largest  portion  of  the  material 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  Navy  plug  in  quarters,  half 
pounds  and  pounds.  A  short,  fully  ripened,  clean  and 
oily  leaf  is  used  in  Ireland  for  fillers.  The  Bird's- Eye 
and  Irish  fillers  are  sold  in  the  English  market  in  the 
leaf  for  the  special  consumption  to  which  they  are 
adapted. 

Scotch  Elder  is  a  type  very  popular  in  England  and 
Scotland.  It  is  a  leaf  of  good  size,  and  reddish  in  color. 
It  has  great  absorptive  or  drinking  capacity,  very  porous, 
containing  a  small  content  of  gummy  matter,  with  a 
medium  texture  as  to  fineness.  The  cause  of  its  great 
popularity  is  that  as  much  as  fifty-five  pounds  of  water 
may  be  added  to  one  hundred  pounds  of  tobacco  before 
it  is  sold  to  consumers.  As  the  tax  on  every  pound  of 
tobacco  imported  to  England  is  about  seventy-six  cents, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  greatest  profits  to  the  retailer 
come  from  the  capacity  of  the  tobacco  to  absorb  and 
retain  moisture. 

The  Scotch  and  Irish  spinners  are  almost  identical 
in  character  with  the  English  spinners. 

CONTINENTAL    SHIPPERS — REGIE    TYPES. 

French  Regie  Types. — The  exports  of  American 
tobacco  to  France  were,  35,363,885  pounds  in  1891; 
39,773,013  pounds  in  1892;  39,508,592  pounds  in  1893; 
38,268,008  pounds  in  1894;  and  34,943,161  pounds  in 
1895.  This  amount  is  usually  made  up  of  about  11,000 
hogsheads  of  Western  tobacco,  1000  hogsheads  of  Vir- 
ginia, 4000  hogsheads  of  Maryland  and  a  variable  quan- 
tity of  eastern  Ohio  tobacco,  possibly  2000  hogsheads. 


CLASSIFICATION   AND  MARKETS.  59 

Of  the  Western  tobacco,  about  half  is  Barley,  and  the 
demand  for  that  type  is  rapidly  increasing.  This  is 
manifested  in  the  changes  made  for  the  requirement  of 
the  French  Regie,  for  1896,  which  called  for  8,038,530 
pounds  of  Burley,  as  against  5,894,922  pounds  in  1895; 
1,339,755  pounds  of  heavy  Kentucky,  as  against  1,607,706 
pounds  in  1895;  8,842,383  pounds  of  light  Kentucky, 
as  against  15,005,256  pounds  in  1895;  and  1,607,706 
pounds  Virginia,  as  against  2,277,584  pounds  in  1895. 
The  demand  for  Burley  was  increased  by  about  2000 
hogsheads.  The  demand  for  Maryland  tobacco  was  also 
increased,  but  no  call  was  made  for  the  tobacco  of  north- 
eastern Ohio. 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  is  a  considerable  varia- 
tion in  the  character  of  the  tobacco  taken  by  the  French 
Regie.  Usually  the  French  demand  may  be  reduced  to 
two  distinct  lines  of  classification,  as  heavy  and  light, 
with  considerable  irregularity  as  to  grade,  and  deficiency 
as  to  distinctiveness  in  type.  Two  things  are  usually 
insisted  upon:  The  stem  must  be  absolutely  free  from 
mold,  and  the  leaf  must  be  supple  enough  to  open  freely. 
There  are  types  of  both  heavy  and  light,  known  as  A's, 
B's  and  C's.  Type  A  consists  of  a  leaf  from  twenty- 
three  to  twenty-five  inches  long,  of  moderately  smooth 
appearance,  dark  brown  in  color,  and  heavy  or  light,  ac- 
cording to  the  classification.  This  type  is  supplied  by 
White  Burley,  Maryland,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  to- 
bacco. Type  B  is  of  the  same  quality  as  type  A,  except 
as  to  length,  which  may  be  from  eighteen  to  twenty-two 
inches.  Type  C  consists  of  good,  sound,  clear  lugs,  or 
common  leaf  of  moderately  heavy  body,  running  from 
the  Clarksville  and  western  Kentucky  type  of  medium 
weight  and  body,  to  the  lower  Green  River  product 
of  medium  weight  of  body. 

It  is  said  that  France  puts  up  the  best  smoking  to- 
bacco in  Europe,  and  the  product  is  made  absolutely 


PLATE  XI.  HEAVY  SHIPPING  TOBACCO. 

Seed  plant  from  same  field  as  Plate  X.  Right,  5  feet  9  inches ;  bottom 
leaves,  30  inches  long,  14  inches  wide;  middle,  30x14  inches;  top, 
24x13  Inches. 


CLASSIFICATION   AND   MARKETS.  61 

uniform,  one  year  with  another,  by  proper  mixing  of  to- 
bacco in  large  bins  containing  from  thirty  to  forty  hogs- 
heads each.  France  also  consumes  from  15,000  to 
25,000  hogsheads  of  tobacco  grown  in  Alsace-Lorraine 
and  about  5000  hogsheads  of  Hungarian  tobacco. 

Italian  Regie. — The  exports  of  the  tobacco  of  the 
United  States  to  Italy  were:  32,436,011  pounds  in 
1891;  30,096,355  pounds  in  1892;  27,515,456  pounds 
in  1893;  24,484,406  pounds  in  1894;  and  24,626,836 
pounds  in  1895.  Italy  usually  takes  from  15,000  to 
18,000  hogsheads  of  heavy  tobacco  annually,  and  2000 
to  3000  hogsheads  of  Burley.  The  tobacco  taken  from 
Italy  is  also  classified  into  A's,  B's,  and  C's. 

Type  A  is  a  large,  smooth,  showy  and  silky  leaf, 
twenty-five  to  twenty-six  inches  long,  of  delicate  fiber 
and  texture,  and  of  a  solid  dark  brown  color.  Moderate 
weight  only  is  required  in  this  type,  and  just  oil  and  fat 
enough  to  make  it  elastic  and  strong.  This  type  is  used 
as  wrappers  in  the  manufacture  of  cigars. 

Type  B  varies  between  heavy  and  light  tobacco, 
sometimes  the  one,  and  then  the  other,  being  called  for 
in  the  contract.  When  the  heavy  is  required,  the  type 
consists  of  leaf  of  heavy  body,  dark  brown  color,  and  of 
more  general  richness  and  weight  than  type  A,  and  it 
must  be  from  twenty-two  to  twenty-five  inches  long. 
This  type  is  used  partly  in  the  manufacture  of  snuff. 
Type  B,  light,  consists  of  leaf  of  second  and  third  grades 
of  the  same  length  of  the  heavy  type,  of  showy  appear- 
ance, light  brown,  or  red,  in  color,  and  of  moderate 
weight  of  body.  Type  B,  light,  is  used  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  cigars  of  milder  flavor  than  those  made  of  the 
heavier  type,  and  it  is  also  used  largely  for  cutting  into 
smoking  tobacco. 

Type  C  consists  of  short,  common  leaf,  eighteen  to 
twenty  inches  in  length,  of  moderate  weight  of  body,  and 
is  used  as  fillers  and  binders  in  the  manufacture  of  cigars. 


62  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

Of  these  various  types,  A  is  chiefly  selected  from  the 
lighter-bodied  and  smooth  product  of  the  Clarksville 
district  and  of  the  western  Kentucky  district;  B,  heavy, 
from  the  heavier  bodied  products  of  these  districts;  B, 
light,  from  the  lower  Green  River  district.  The  tobacco 
of  southern  Indiana  and  Illinois  has  sometimes  been 
used  for  B.  light.  Type  C  is  the  common  leaf  of  the 
heavy-producing  districts,  and  the  heavier  bodied  prod- 
uct of  the  light-producing  districts.  Intermediate 
types  are  frequently  allowed  in  the  Eegie  contracts.  A 
small  quantity  of  White  Burley  tobacco  is  taken  for 
trial.  Italy  uses  a  considerable  amount  of  Hungarian- 
grown  tobacco. 

Austria  Eegie  takes  only  one  type  from  the 
United  States,  and  this  is  divided  into  A,  B  and  C 
grades.  This  is  a  wrapping  leaf,  very  smooth  and  fine 
in  fiber,  of  very  solid,  firm  and  glossy  texture  above 
medium  heavy  body,  but  not  of  the  heaviest  and  most 
fleshy  type,  and  of  a  perfectly  uniform  brown  and  piebald 
color.  A  very  essential  quality  is  toughness  in  the  leaf 
and  a  capacity  of  stretch.  It  must  be  well  cured  by  fire, 
but  not  injured  in  curing.  The  length  of  leaf  is  not  an 
essential  part  of  the  fitness,  but  good  length  is  pre- 
ferred. This  type  is  used  in  Austria  as  wrappers  for 
cigars,  and  is  supplied  partly  from  Virginia,  but  in  the 
main  from  the  Clarksville  district.  The  lower  grades  of 
tobacco  for  the  Austrian  Regie  are  supplied  from  Hun- 
gary. Austria  is  also  taking  a  small  quantity  of  White 
Burley  tobacco  experimentally. 

The  Spanish  Eegie. — The  Spanish  contract  is  let 
for  periods  ranging  from  one  to  six  years,  and  is  filled 
by  sound,  common  and  medium  lugs  and  low  leaf  of  all 
types  and  districts,  except  the  Burley  and  bright-tobacco- 
producing  districts.  It  is  also,  in  part,  filled  by  the  low 
and  nondescript  leaf  of  light  type.  Most  of  the  tobacco 
for  this  contract  is  taken  from  the  Western  product, 


CLASSIFICATION    AND   MARKETS.  63 

only  abont  2000  hogsheads  of  Virginia  tobacco  being 
found  suitable  in  character  and  price.  The  order  is 
generally  made  for  one-third  of  leaf  of  low  grade  and 
two-thirds  lugs.  The  tobacco  is  classified  into  A's,  B's 
and  C's.  Most  all  of  it  is  used  for  smoking,  the  better 
grades  for  wrappers,  binders  and  fillers  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  cigars,  and  the  lower  grades  are  granulated  and 
used  for  the  manufacture  of  cigarettes  and  a  moderate 
amount  in  snuff.  The  tobacco  taken  for  Gibraltar  is 
not  embraced  in  the  following  statement:  The  quantity 
taken  annually  is  from  15,000  to  18,000  hogsheads. 
There  were  13,865,549  pounds  of  the  tobacco  of  the 
United  States  exported  to  Spain  in  1891;  22,862,875 
pounds  in  1992;  12,611,810  pounds  in  1893;  30,054,113 
pounds  in  1894;  and  26,262,432  pounds  in  1895. 

German  Types. — German  Saucer  is  a  sweet,  fair- 
bodied  leaf  of  fine  fiber  and  stem,  gummy,  without  fat- 
ness, and  either  of  a  clear,  cherry  red  in  color,  or  mot- 
tled with  yellow,  technically  called  piebald.  The  sur- 
face is  gummy,  the  leaf  of  good  length,  with  consider- 
able weight  of  body.  It  is  prepared  for  consumption  in 
Germany  by  treating  it  with  sweet  sauces  of  a  peculiar 
flavor  and  character.  The  fiber  must  be  yellow  after 
being  treated  with  these  sauces,  and  the  leaf  black.  It 
is  supplied  mainly  from  Virginia,  though  some  excellent 
tobacco  for  this  purpose  is  grown  in  the  heavy-tobacco 
districts  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky. 

German  Spinner  consists  of  a  very  heavy-bodied  leaf, 
from  twenty-four  to  twenty-six  inches  long,  full  in 
width,  of  fine  stem  and  fiber,  very  oily  and  fat,  so  that 
it  will  come  out  of  the  process  of  fermentation  supple 
and  strong,  tough  and  elastic  in  texture,  and  of  a  very 
deep  dark-brown  color.  This  type  is  used  in  Germany 
and  the  north  of  Europe  for  spinning  into  strand.  It  is 
supplied  chiefly  from  the  Clarksville  district  and  in  part 
from  the  Green  River  districts  of  Kentucky.  It  is  this 


PLATE  XII.     BRIGHT  YELLOW  TOBACCO  (Silky  Pryor,  topped  planl). 

Photographed  in  same  field  and  on  same  date  (Aug.  21)  as  Plate  XIII. 
Hight  of  plant,  3J  feet.  Bottom  leaf,  13x25  incites;  middle  leaf, 
16x28J  inches;  top  leaf,  13x24  inches.  Season:  Rains  up  to  about 
July  15,  excessive  heat  and  dryness  for  next  22  days. 


CLASSIFICATION   AND   MARKETS.  65 

type  that  has  given  the  Clarksville  tobacco  its  most  dis- 
tinguishing characteristics. 

German  Spinning  fillers  are  of  the  same  character  of 
tobacco  as  the  wrappers,  differing  only  in  grade,  and 
consist  of  very  fat,  clean  and  heavy-bodied  lugs,  which 
are  also  supplied  from  the  Clarksville  and  upper  Green 
River  districts. 

Germany  also  takes  most  of  the  Spangled  tobacco  of 
West  Virginia  and  Ohio,  and  also  that  of  Maryland. 
This  is  a  leaf  of  full  breadth,  moderate  length,  and 
small  stem.  It  is  deficient  in  oil,  ha?  a  medium  strength 
in  texture,  and  in  color  is  yellow,  yellow  spangled  with 
red,  red  spangled  with  yellow,  and  fine  red.  It  is  cured 
with  open  fires,  but  has  a  mild,  sweet  flavor.  The  fine 
yellow  and  yellow  spangled  go  to  Bremen,  where  it  is 
rehandled,  and  packed  in  lighter  casks,  and  sent  to 
Russia  for  consumption.  A  portion,  however,  is  taken  to 
Austria  and  England,  the  two  latter  named  countries 
taking  also  the  red  spangled.  England  takes  the  fine 
red.  Germany  takes  all  grades  for  consumption  or  dis- 
tribution, mostly,  however,  dark  tobacco.  It  now 
takes  about  500  hogsheads  of  bright  fillers.  Very  little 
of  the  French  and  Italian  types  are  taken;  and  only 
scraps  of  these  types  which  are  used  in  the  country  for 
smoking  tobacco.  Germany  is  also  a  large  market  for 
Burley  lugs,  and  for  seedleaf  for  cigars. 

Next  to  the  United  Kingdom,  Germany  is  the  best 
customer  for  American  tobacco.  Tobacco  is  sold  in  an 
open  market,  and  is  not  a  government  monopoly. 
There  were  48,055,408  pounds  sent  to  that  country 
from  the  United  States  in  1891;  53,116,734  pounds  in 
1892;  61,235,195  pounds  in  1893;  51,632,897  pounds 
in  1894;  and  54,184,621  pounds  in  1895. 

Russia  takes  some  Maryland  tobacco  directly  from 
this  country,  but  nothing  else  of  consequence.  South- 
ern Russia  is  supplied  from  Greece,  Turkey  and  North 
5 


66  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

Africa.  Sweden  and  Norway  take  direct  from  the 
United  States,  from  1,629,755  pounds  in  1892,  to 
351,495  pounds  in  1895.  Portugal  takes  a  very  variable 
quantity,  running  from  2,657,256  pounds  in  1893,  to 
only  5091  pounds  in  1895.  The  demand  for  Gibraltar 
was,  for  1893,  1,470,916  pounds;  for  1894,  2,301,883 
pounds;  for  1895,  1,896,332  pounds.  Much  of  this  is 
re-exported  to  Africa.  The  Azores  and  Madeira  Islands 
take  annually  from  3000  pounds  to  320,000  pounds  of 
the  tobacco  of  the  United  States. 

Snuff  Lugs  and  Smokers. — The  very  fat,  heavy  and 
oily  lugs  of  the  Clarksville  and  other  heavy-producing 
districts  are  consumed  largely  in  the  United  States  and 
Germany  in  the  manufacture  of  common  snuff,  and  for 
baling  and  spinning  fillers,  as  noted  elsewhere.  They 
are  also  used  on  the  Continent  for  the  manufacture  of 
common  cigars. 

Switzerland  takes  from  the  United  States  only  one 
type,  known  as  Swiss  wrapper.  This  is  a  broadleaf, 
twenty-six  to  thirty  inches  in  length,  silky,  of  fine  fiber 
and  stem,  and  of  a  dark  brown  or  chestnut  color.  The 
spaces  between  the  lateral  fibers  should  be  wide,  and  a 
combination  of  thin  web  and  strong  fiber  is  desired,  so 
that  the  largest  number  of  wrappers  may  be  obtained 
from  a  given  quantity.  It  is  used  in  Switzerland  as  a 
cigar  wrapper,  and  is  supplied  principally  from  the 
Clarksville  district,  but  to  a  small  extent  from  other 
heavy-producing  districts.  It  must  be  cured  by  fire. 
The  quantity  of  tobacco  grown  in  the  United  States, 
taken  directly  to  Switzerland,  is  very  small,  perhaps 
from  five  hundred  to  seven  hundred  hogsheads  annually. 

The  Netherlands  take  one  distinct  type  from  the 
United  States,  known  as  Dutch  Saucer,  which  is  similar 
in  all  respects  to  the  German  Saucer,  except  that  it  is 
thinner  and  more  silky  in  texture.  The  other  types 
taken  are  very  much  like  those  required  for  Germany, 


CLASSIFICATION   AND   MARKETS.  67 

including  Burley  lugs.  The  quantity  of  tobacco  of  the 
growth  of  the  United  States  required  for  exportation  to 
the  Netherlands  was,  18,791,146  pounds  in  1891; 
17,188,641  pounds  in  1892;  18,168,278  pounds  in  1893; 
18,974,661  pounds  in  1894;  and  20,651,086  pounds  in 
1895.  Black,  fat  and  heavy  tobacco,  and  a  small  per- 
centage of  light  tobacco,  are  the  types  required  for  con- 
sumption in  the  Netherlands. 

Belgium  likewise  takes  one  special  type,  known  as 
Belgian  Cutter,  which  is  a  short  leaf  of  a  mottled,  or 
piebald  color,  and  of  fair  body,  without  fat  or  oil.  The 
general  quality  and  structure  are  such  as  have  been 
noted  as  characterizing  the  German  and  Dutch  Saucers, 
except  that  the  grade  is  lower.  It  is  used  in  Belgium 
for  cutting  purposes.  Belgium  also  buys  largely  of 
Burley  lugs.  The  export  of  American  tobacco  to  Bel- 
gium was,  18,108,975  pounds  in  1891;  16,644,542 
pounds  in  1892;  12,509,366  pounds  in  1893;  17,695,375 
pounds  in  1894,  and  25,104,707  pounds  in  1895.  Most 
of  the  tobacco  taken  belongs  to  the  low  grades. 

Denmark,  Norway  and  Sweden. — The  tobacco  con- 
sumed in  these  countries  is  for  the  most  part  grown  in 
the  United  States,  but  rehandled  and  prepared  for  their 
markets,  mainly  in  Bremen.  A  bright  mottled,  or  red, 
fleshy,  sweet  leaf,  not  fat,  prepared  in  Germany  from 
the  product,  usually,  of  Virginia  and  the  Clarksville, 
Tennessee,  districts,  is  a  great  favorite  in  Denmark, 
Norway  and  Sweden.  In  addition  to  this,  many  of  the 
heavy  Clarksville  types  cured  with  fire  are  largely  con- 
sumed in  these  countries.  The  leaf  is  dipped  in  sweet 
preparations  of  licorice  and  sugar,  redried,  repacked 
and  shipped  to  Norway  and  Sweden,  where  it  is  said  to 
be  "first  chewed,  then  smoked  and  then  snuffed."  The 
direct  exports  from  the  United  States  to  Denmark 
vary  from  138,567  pounds  in  1893  to  430,976  pounds, 
in  1895. 


PLATE  xiii.    BRIGHT  YELLOW  TOBACCO  (Silky  Pryor,  seed  plant). 

Right  to  tip  of  seed,  7i  feet;  hight  to  top  leaf,  2  feet  10  inches.  Bright 
type  of  tobacco  grown  in  Coffee  county,  Tennessee,  and  on  the 
Cumberland  plateau,  1070  feet  altitude. 


CLASSIFICATION   AND   MARKETS.  69 

Yellow  Tobacco.  — Of  yellow  tobacco,  a  large  quantity 
is  exported  to  Europe,  ranging  in  quantity  with  the  dif- 
ferent districts,  from  one-third  to  one-half  of  the  prod- 
uct grown.  The  following  grades  are  chiefly  taken  for 
export: 

1.  Cutters:     Usually  thin   and  bright,  occupying 
a  position,  as  to  grade,  intermediate  between  a  wrapper 
and  a  lug.     This  grade  contributes  about  one-fourth  of 
the  amount  exported.     Used  for  cigarettes  and  smoking 
tobacco. 

2.  Bright,    greenish    yellow    and    lemon   colored 
stripping  leaf,  used  for  fillers  and  partly  as  an  English 
cutter.     It  is  shipped  both  in  leaf  and  in  strips.     All 
this  grade,  for  the  most  part,  is  exported,  and  makes 
nearly  half  the  quantity  that  goes  abroad.     It  is  used 
for  plug  and  plug  cut. 

3.  Leafy  cutting  lugs,  three  grades,  which  make 
nearly  one-fourth  of   the  foreign  shipments  of  yellow 
tobacco. 

In  addition  to  these  grades,  a  very  small  per  cent  of 
bright  wrappers  go  abroad. 

African  Shippers. — These  are  usually  divided  into 
three  classes: 

1.  Those  which  are  suitable  for  the  western  coast  of 
Africa,  embracing  Liberia,  Sierra  Leone,  Senegambia  and 
those  French  and  Portugal  possessions  bordering  on  the 
gulf  of  Guinea,  known  as  the  Guinea  coast.     The  to- 
bacco for  these  markets  should  be  of  long,  dark  leaf, 
strong  body,  small  tie,  packed  into  hogsheads  of  small 
size,  and  made  to  weigh  about  1500  pounds  gross.     The 
tobacco  must  be  neatly  handled. 

2.  The  tobacco  suitable  for  the  coast  further  south 
should  be  of  long  leaf,  medium  to  light  color,  fine  fibers, 
nearly  of   the   same  length   of  leaf  as   class  one,  and 
handled  neatly.     The    hogsheads    should    weigh   1450 
pounds  gross. 


70  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

3.  The  tobacco  suitable  for  the  more  northern  parts 
of  Africa  should  consist  of  a  light  or  piebald  leaf,  not  so 
long  as  classes  one  and  two,  and  packed  in  hogsheads  of 
medium  size,  weighing  not  more  than  1450  pounds 


Tobacco  for  the  African  market  is  often  packed  in 
boxes  or  quarter  hogsheads,  which  will  hold  from  300  to 
400  pounds  gross,  by  hard  prizing.  Tobacco  thus  pre- 
pared is  more  subject  to  atmospheric  influences  than 
when  prized  in  hogsheads. 

Most  of  the  tobacco  which  finds  its  way  to  the  African 
markets  is  put  up  by  rehandlers  in  this  country,  but 
there  is  a  fair  proportion  of  leaf  of  suitable  quality  and 
handling  put  up  by  farmers,  which  is  taken  usually  by 
Boston  merchants,  who  send  cargoes  of  various  articles 
to  the  African  coast.  It  requires  3000  hogsheads  to 
supply  the  African  demand  for  the  tobacco  grown  in  the 
United  States. 

Shippers  for  Mexico,  South  America  and  the  West 
Indies. — The  baling  wrapper  is  a  heavy  leaf,  twenty-eight 
to  thirty  inches  in  length,  of  fair  width,  very  lat  and 
oily,  of  heavy  texture  and  of  a  very  dark  color.  A  nec- 
essary requirement  of  this  class  is  bthat  it  should  be 
neatly  tied  in  small  bundles,  strongly  and  carefully 
packed  in  casks,  and  moderately  pressed.  It  is  put  up 
as  a  wrapper  leaf  in  preparing  stock  for  the  trade  of  the 
several  markets  named.  It  is  taken  from  the  hogshead, 
after  fermentation,  and  packed  in  bales  weighing  from 
one  hundred  to  two  hundred  pounds.  These  bales  are 
covered  with  a  cloth.  They  are  so  prepared  that  two 
bales  may  be  balanced  across  the  back  of  a  pack  mule, 
for  convenience  of  transportation  over  the  mountainous 
regions  in  the  districts  in  which  the  tobacco  is  con- 
sumed. 

Baling  fillers  are  made  of  common,  rich  and  heavy 
leaf,  and  fine  lugs  of  heavy  body,  having  a  full  supply  of 


CLASSIFICATION   AND   MARKETS.  71 

oils  and  fatness.  Some  of  the  exports  to  the  West 
Indies  are  called  "black  fats,"  and  are  made  dark  by 
heavy  pressure  and  the  application  of  water. 

Nondescript  Tobacco. — This  name  applied  to  tobacco 
indicates  that  it  cannot  be  classified.  It  has  the  merit 
of  cheapness,  and  in  times  of  scarcity  of  some  well- 
deQned  type,  a  nondescript  variety,  resembling  it,  is 
often  substituted.  The  lowest  and  commonest  grades  of 
lugs,  especially  if  air  cured,  like  the  trash  of  the  White 
Burley,  are  often  used  in  the  United  States  for  making 
the  cheapest  grades  of  pipe-smoking  tobacco.  Some- 
times stems  are  mixed  with  them  to  increase  the  bulk 
and  reduce  the  cost.  The  lowest  qualities  of  lugs  and 
nondescript  are  also  sometimes  used  for  making  sheep 
wash. 

Stems,  or  midribs,  are  exported  in  considerable  quan- 
tities to  Gei'many  and  Sweden,  and  are  used  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  cheap  grades  of  snuff  and  chewing  tobacco. 
They  are  also  extensively  used  in  the  United  States  for 
the  protection  of  fruit  trees  from  the  borer  and  other 
insect  enemies.  Stems  for  exportation  are  prized  in  a 
very  dry  condition,  so  as  to  save  duty.  Sweden  uses 
about  2000  hogsheads  of  stems  annually.  The  net 
weight  of  a  hogshead  averages  from  1800  pounds  to  2000 
pounds. 

CLASS    III. 

CIGAR    AND   SMOKING    TOBACCO. 

Havana  Seed  or  Seedleaf. — Both  varieties  are  as- 
sorted by  the  cigar  manufacturer  in  practically  the  same 
manner.  Seedleaf  is  used  mostly  as  a  binder.  Com- 
paratively little  can  be  used  for  wrappers,  as  the  leaf  is 
too  rough,  and  its  growth  is  not  fine  enough.  Some 
manufacturers,  however,  still  cling  to  seedleaf  wrappers, 
and  choice  crops  of  this  variety  command  a  premium. 
The  leaf  from  all  varieties  of  cigar  tobacco  is  assorted 


.72  TOBACCO    LEAF. 

for  manufacturers'  use  into  grades  of  leaf  called  wrap- 
pers, binders  and  fillers.  These  three  grades  are  each 
again  subdivided  into  long  and  short  grades,  or  into  A 
and  B  grades,  and  sometimes  even  into  C  and  D.  Short 
wrappers  are  not  infrequently  known  as  "lights."  On 
the  growing  tobacco  plant,  the  top  and  bottom  leaves 
are  of  about  the  same  size,  the  extremes  of  each  being 
worthless.  On  the  other  hand,  the  cream  of  the  plant 
is  found  in  the  leaves  at  the  center  of  the  plant.  Be- 
tween the  center  leaves,  or  wrappers,  and  the  end,  or 
small,  leaves,  are  the  binders,  while  the  end  leaves,  those 
from  the  bud  to  the  upper  binders,  and  from  the  tap- 
root to  the  lower  binder  leaves,  are  the  fillers. 

The  innermost  tobacco  in  the  cigar  is  the  filler,  the 
next  leaf  used  is  the  binder,  to  keep  the  filler  in  the  form 
or  shape  of  a  cigar,  and  the  finishing  or  outside  leaf  is 
the  wrapper. 

In  buying  cigar  leaf,  the  manufacturer  looks  for 
the  right  burn,  taste,  texture,  color,  "feeling,"  general 
appearance  and  "strength."  The  views  of  different 
manufacturers  on  each  of  these  points  may  vary  widely. 
No  hard  and  fast  rule  can  be  laid  down  as  to  precisely 
the  degree  of  each  of  these  qualities  that  the  majority  of 
cigar  manufacturers  require.  Moreover,  the  style,  or 
fashion,  in  cigars  frequently  changes,  while  the  whims, 
or  demands  of  smokers  are  almost  as  varied  as  the  num- 
ber of  these  individuals.  Formerly,  dark,  coarse  and 
strong-flavored  cigars  were  the  favorite,  but  now  the 
general  preference  is  for  light  colors  and  sweeter  flavors. 
Still,  many  smokers  want  dark  cigars  of  strong  flavor. 
No  one  can  tell  when  the  fashion  will  change. 

The  old  style  of  assorting  cigars,  as  to  color,  was  to 
make  them  up  without  assortment  of  the  wrapper  leaf 
before  wrapping.  After  the  cigars  were  made,  they 
were  assorted  to  six  colors.  With  improvement  in  all 
lines  of  manufacturing,  a  finer  ranging  of  colors  was  be- 


CLASSIFICATION  AND  MARKETS.  73 

lieved  possible,  so  that  in  recent  years,  manufacturers 
open  each  hand  of  wrapper  tobacco  and  assort  it  to  the 
six  colors.  /These  are  called, 

Claro,  very  light  brown. 

Colorado  Claro,  light  brown. 

Colorado,  brown. 

Colorado  Maduro,  dark  brown. 

Maduro,  dark. 

Oscuro,  black. 

Of  the  latter,  but  little,  if  any,  has  been  used  for 
years. 

The  cigars  are  wrapped  with  the  above  shadings, 
and  each  lot  is  kept  by  itself.  As  a  leaf  varies  in 
color  at  opposite  ends,  a  second  assortment,  this  time  of 
the  cigars,  is  made.  This  is  essential,  as  the  tip  of  a 
leaf  may  be  of  a  Colorado  color,  while  the  stalk  end  may 
be  a  Maduro.  As  finally  placed  in  the  box,  the  colors 
are  so  arranged  by  shadings  that  only  an  expert  will 
notice  any  difference  of  shades  in  the  same  box  among 
the  finer  grades  of  cigars. 

Large  manufacturers  nearly  always  manipulate  leaf, 
more  or  less,  after  its  purchase,  for  their  particular 
needs.  They  will  take  a  crop  and  sweat  it  over  again 
during  a  season,  and  by  regulating  the  heat  and  tem- 
perature, the  leaf  will  come  out  two  or  three  shades 
darker.  This  can  be  done  by  the  experienced  shop 
foreman,  nearly  to  a  certainty,  every  time.  On  the 
other  hand,  no  process  has,  as  yet,  been  devised  for 
changing  a  leaf  to  a  lighter  color ;  to  the  man  discov- 
ering such  a  process  awaits  an  immense  fortune. 

As  used  in  the  cigar,  binders  may  be  a  shade  lighter 
than  the  wrapper,  but  binders  are  never  put  through 
the  six-color  assortment,  as  are  wrappers.  Binders 
are  assorted  into  grades  of  sweetness  and  strength. 

The  filler  has  much  the  same  assortment ;  it  is  the 
filler  that  makes  the  cigar ;  that  is,  produces  the  taste, 


PLATE  xiv.    YELLOW  TOBACCO  (Lacks  or  Wand  variety). 

Grown  in  Halifax  county,  Virginia.  Hight,  26  inches;  top  leaves, 
10x23  inches;  middle  leaves,  13x27  inches;  bottom  leaves,  13x24 
inches. 

74 


CLASSIFICATION   AND   MARKETS.  75 

sweetness  and  strength.  For  that  reason,  filler  leaf  is 
selected  for  a  character  in  itself,  as  sweetness,  strength 
and  perhaps  catchy  taste.  A  filler  leaf  may  be  most  de- 
sirable, but  wrapped  with  an  undesirable  wrapper  or 
binder,  its  desirable  quality  may  be  detracted  from  and 
its  chief  value  rendered  worthless.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  filler  leaf  may  be  "flat,"  and  the  wrapper  or  binder, 
or  both,  may  give  to  the  cigar  nearly  its  entire  value. 

The  gum  in  cigar  leaf  is  what  produces  much  of  its 
value  in  smoking.  The  taste,  strength,  texture,  etc., 
are  all  more  or  less  dependent  on  the  amount  of  gum 
present.  Sometimes  a  crop  has  too  much  gum ;  this  was 
especially  true  of  the  '93  and  '94  crops  of  all  sections 
of  the  country.  The  leaf  raised  in  the  section  around 
East  Hartford,  Ct.,  should  be  kept  two  years  for  proper 
curing,  as  it  contains  an  unusually  large  per  cent  of  gum. 

To  make  cigars  of  the  great  variety  of  requirements 
called  for  by  the  trade,  involves  much  skill  and  expe- 
rience in  selecting  and  putting  together  the  grades  of 
leaf  necessary  to  accomplish  any  desired  result.  The 
judgment,  or  ability,  to  do  this  commands  a  high  pre- 
mium in  American  cigar  factories.  It  can  only  be 
learned  by  close  observation  and  wide  experience.  It 
cannot  be  described  in  a  book.  To  still  further  compli- 
cate the  matter,  crops  from  the  same  region  may  vary 
greatly  in  quality  from  year  to  year.  It  is  customary  to 
refer  to  the  Connecticut  seedleaf  crop  grown  in  1871  as 
the  type  of  absolute  perfection,  while  the  Havana  seed 
crop  of  1892  was  in  many  sections  of  remarkable  quality 
when  it  came  out  of  the  sweat.  The  curing,  and  the 
subsequent  fermentation,  of  the  leaf,  also  profoundly 
affect  its  quality.  The  best  the  grower  can  do  is  to  fol- 
low the  matter  closely  from  year  to  year,  and  strive  for 
those  qualities  in  his  leaf  which  are  in  most  demand — 
and  he  must"  follow  the  demand  closely  to  see  just  what 
it  is. 


76  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

The  Pipe-Smoking  Tobacco  now  most  highly  prized, 
and  in  greatest  demand,  is  made  mainly  from  the  bright 
lugs  of  the  yellow-tobacco  districts.  These  lugs  are  of 
three  sub-grades,  viz  :  Common  or  sand  lugs ;  medium 
or  smooth  lugs,  and  bright  or  wrapping  lugs. 

A  mixture  of  heavier  lugs,  or  dark,  low  leaf,  is 
made  when  greater  strength  is  required  in  the  tobacco. 
White  Burley  lugs,  which  are  usually  fine  and  bright, 
are  much  used  for  making  granulated  pipe-smoking  to- 
bacco. These  lugs  are  usually  of  sweet  flavor,  thin  in 
leaf,  light  or  yellowish-brown  in  color,  inclined  to  be 
trashy  and  chaffy,  and,  when  mixed  with  the  Carolina 
and  Virginia  bright  lugs,  make  the  very  highest  grade  of 
smoking  tobacco  for  pipes.  It  is  sweet  to  the  taste, 
mild  in  the  effects,  and  exceedingly  popular  with  per- 
sons of  sedentary  habits.  A  strong  pipe-smoking  to- 
bacco is  preferred  by  persons  who  live  an  active,  out- 
door life.  Some  of  the  Burley  lugs,  especially  those 
that  are  bright  in  color  and  thin  of  leaf,  are  granulated, 
and  form  good  stock  for  the  manufacture  of  cigarettes. 

Perique  tobacco,  grown  exclusively  in  Louisiana  by 
the  descendants  of  the  Arcadians,  is  peculiar  in  the 
methods  used  in  its  curing  and  its  preparation  for  mar- 
ket. It  emits  a  highly  spirituous  odor,  much  liked  by 
some  smokers.  While  but  few  pipe  smokers  prefer  the 
Perique  in  its  unadulterated  state,  a  suitable  mixture  of 
it  with  other  tobacco  makes  a  popular  brand  for  pipe 
smoking.  The  total  amount  of  Perique  grown  now 
reaches  175,000  pounds  per  annum,  according  to  the 
authority  of  S.  Hershein  &  Co.,  who  handle  the  entire 
product.  This  is  said  to  be  twice  as  much  as  there  is 
any  demand  for.  The  production  has  extended  and 
largely  increased  during  the  past  few  years.  Common 
lugs  from  the  various  tobacco  districts  constitute  the 
lower  grades  of  many  types.  These  lugs  are  trashy, 
earth-burned,  deficient  in  body  and  weight  of  leaf,  of 


CLASSIFICATION  AND   MARKETS.  77 

every  color  known  to  the  cured-tobacco  plant,  and 
milder  than  the  better  grades  of  the  types  from  which 
they  are  taken. 

By  a  proper  admixture  of  colors  and  strength  of  leaf, 
many  brands  of  pipe-smoking  tobacco  are  made  from  such 
lugs,  as  bright,  dark,  brown,  red,  spangled,  yellow,  mild, 
medium  and  strong.  Some  air-cured  lugs  are  granulated 
for  cigarettes,  the  stock  being  furnished  from  the  light, 
thin  products  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Missouri,  eastern  Ohio  and  Maryland.  The  lugs  se- 
lected for  this  purpose  are  light  in  weight  and  color. 

Some  heavy-bodied  lugs  are  used  for  snuff  ;  some 
lighter  grades  for  cigar  fillers,  and  still  lighter  for  the 
pipe — either  cut  or  granulated. 

Stogy  wrappers  and  fillers,  used  for  making  a 
coarse,  common,  domestic  cigar,  is  a  western-grown  leaf, 
of  full  length  and  breadth,  and  of  light  body  and  fine 
fiber.  Uniformly  dark  colors  are  selected.  To  a  very 
small  extent,  a  red  or  cinnamon  color  is  required.  The 
tobacco  for  this  purpose  must  be  air  cured  and  entirely 
free  from  any  flavor  inparted  by  fire  or  smoke.  It  is 
necessary,  before  being  used,  that  it  shall  be  somewhat 
soured  by  sweat  or  fermentation.  The  manufacture  of 
this  class  of  cigars  is  carried  on  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  and  in  Wheeling,  W. 
Va.  The  difference  between  the  wrappers  and  fillers  is 
in  grade  only.  What  are  called  "  self  -workers  "  consist 
of  packages  in  which  both  fillers  and  wrappers  are  put 
up  in  proper  proportions. 

A  plug  tobacco,  wrapped  with  fine-fibered  Clarks- 
ville  tobacco,  of  good  breadth  of  leaf  and  of  a  port  wine 
color,  is  put  up  in  the  United  States  for  making  cigars, 
and  nearly  all  is  exported.  These  wrappers  impart  a 
rank  flavor  to  the  cigars.  They  are  also  produced  in 
some  parts  of  Virginia.  A  few  of  them  only  are  used  in 
the  manufacture  of  stogy  cigars. 


78  TOBACCO    LEAF. 

The  Indiana  Kite-Foot,  a  variety  having  a  broad, 
short  leaf,  grown  in  Owen  and  Clark  counties,  in 
Indiana,  is  used  for  making  common  cigars.  This  to- 
bacco is  cured  with  fire,  and  the  color  is  generally  brown, 
sprinkled  with  yellow  spots. 

Little  Dutch  is  a  small  variety,  with  thin  leaf, 
sweet,  dark  brown  in  color,  with  a  glossy  surface,  and  it 
is  grown  in  the  Miami  Valley  of  Ohio.  It  makes  a  very 
pleasant  pipe-smoking  tobacco".  It  is  easily  injured  by 
the  process  of  fermentation  and  for  that  reason  is  not 
popular  with  manufacturers  of  tobacco  or  cigars.  It 
loses  twenty  per  cent  of  its  weight  by  sweating,  and 
has  less  nicotine  than  any  other  tobacco  grown,  having 
only  0. 63  of  one  per  cent. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SCIENCE   IN  ITS  APPLICATION  TO  TOBACCO. 

Few  plants  are  so  susceptible  to  soil,  feeding  and 
culture,  as  tobacco.  Certainly  no  other  crop  requires 
more  scientific  knowledge  to  grow  it  to  perfection. 
Men  who  have  raised  it  for  years,  who  have  closely  stud- 
ied their  own  and  others'  experiments,  agree  with  the 
authors  that  the  scientific  aspect  of  tobacco  culture  is 
just  beginning  to  be  understood.  The  curing  of  the 
leaf,  and  its  subsequent  fermentation,  are  also  only  just 
beginning  to  be  understood.  All  these  matters  open  up 
most  fascinating  fields  in  chemistry,  physics  and  bacte- 
riology, upon  which  we  have  space  to  but  briefly  touch. 

AS  TO  THE  COMPOSITION  OF  TOBACCO. 

Constituents  of  Tobacco  Leaf. — Nicotine  is  the  ac- 
tive principle  of  tobacco  upon  which  its  peculiar  value 
depends.  To  it  the  narcotic  and  intoxicating  qualities  of 
the  leaf  are  mainly  due.  It  is  an  oily  substance  that 
quickly  evaporates,  and  has  a  strong,  pungent  and  pecul- 
iar odor.  Nicotine  is  present  in  the  plant  from  the 
time  it  commences  to  grow  in  the  seed  bed,  until  it  has 
reached  maturity  and  gone  through  all  the  fermentative 
changes  incident  to  curing,  sweating  and  manufacture. 
The  flavor  and  characteristic  odor  of  tobacco  are  supposed 
to  be  due  to  a  volatile  substance  called  nicotianine.  For 
practical  purposes  it  may  be  considered  with  nicotine, 
or  as  a  part  of  it. 

The  percentage  of  nicotine  varies  in  the  different 
parts  of  the  plant,  and  this  variation  increases  as  the 
79 


80  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

plant  reaches  maturity,  but  every  part  contains  some 
trace  of  this  alkaloid.  The  percentage  of  nicotine  is 
greater  just  as  the  leaf  reaches  maturity,  than  in  either 
the  green  or  overripe  leaves.  Apparently  the  formation 
and  accumulation  of  nicotine  in  the  leaf  continue  as 
long  as  there  is  growth.  The  effect  of  nicotine,  after 
plant  growth  ceases,  is  not  understood,  nor  is  the  office 
of  nicotine  in  the  economy  of  the  plant  definitely  stated. 
The  amount  of  nicotine  in  the  whole  leaf  (exclusive  of 
the  stem  or  midribs),  of  American-grown  tobacco,  ranges 
from  less  than  one  per  cent  to  nearly  six  per  cent  of  the 
chemically  dry  substance. 

"This  variation  in  the  percentage  of  nicotine," 
says  Carpenter,  "is  due,  in  some  measure,  to  different 
varieties,  but  whatever  variety  is  grown,  or  what  other 
conditions  prevail,  it  is  almost  always  noticed  that  those 
influences  which  tend  to  produce  a  coarse,  rank  growth, 
containing  a  large  percentage  of  albuminoids,  also  pro- 
duce a  comparatively  large  amount  of  nicotine.  The 
climate,  nature  of  soil  and  fertilizers,  treatment  of  crop, 
etc.,  all  have  their  influence.  Of  all  these  conditions, 
that  of  soil  and  fertilizers  seems  to  be  the  most  impor- 
tant. A  rich,  heavy  soil,  fertilized  with  a  strong  nitrog- 
enous manure,  is  apparently  favorable  to  the  produc- 
tion of  a  high  percentage  of  nicotine,  while  the  reverse 
is  true  of  a  light,  sandy  soil  containing  little  organic 
matter.  Havana-grown  tobacco,  which  contains  a  low 
percentage,  has,  in  addition  to  soil,  the  benefit  of  a  very 
moist  atmosphere. 

"For  this  reason,  some  have  attributed  the  reverse 
conditions  as  favorable  to  the  production  of  nicotine. 
From  the  results  of  the  investigation  of  tobaccos  grown 
in  the  United  States,  we  can  find  no  ground  for  this  as- 
sertion. Tobacco  of  the  seedleaf  variety  grown  in  Con- 
necticut, on  a  rich  loam,  gave  over  four  per  cent  of  nic- 
otine, while  that  grown  on  a  sandy  loam  soil  contained 


SCIENCE   IN   ITS  APPLICATION.  81 

only  about  one  per  cent.  There  we  have  different  con- 
ditions of  soil  in  the  same  climate ;  and  other  instances 
of  a  similar  character  might  be  cited. 

"As  nicotine  is  the  active  principle  of  tobacco,  upon 
which  the  stimulating  effect  largely  depends,  it  would 
naturally  appear  that  its  development  to  a  high  degree 
would  be  desirable,  but  such  is  not  the  case.  What  are 
considered  the  best  qualities  almost  always  contain  a 
small  percentage,  while  a  large  percentage  usually  indi- 
cates coarseness.  While,  as  stated,  certain  conditions 
are  conducive  to  the  development  of  nicotine,  it  is  un- 
doubtedly true  that  the  subsequent  treatment  has  some 
influence  on  the  amount  present  in  the  finished  product. 
The  different  fermentative  processes  required  to  develop 
proper  flavor  and  color  necessarily  decompose,  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  the  different  compounds  present 
in  the  leaf.  It  may  be  true,  therefore,  that  in  some 
cases  the  nicotine  content  may  be  appreciably  less  in  the 
fermented  product  than  was  present  in  the  green  plant. 
For  this  reason,  the  analyses  of  the  different  varieties 
which  have  been  subjected  to  different  processes  of  cur- 
ing and  fermenting,  cannot  safely  be  relied  upon  as  giv- 
ing the  exact  amount  developed  by  certain  conditions  in 
the  field,  but  the  results,  in  a  general  way,  confirm  what 
has  been  previously  noted." 

Davidson  finds  that  changes  in  the  amount  of  nico- 
tine in  leaf  at  the  time  of  topping,  curing,  and  after 
being  properly  cured,  are  very  slight,  but  in  the  cured 
state  it  seems  to  be  much  greater.  He  questions  this 
latter  point. 

Other  Substances  in  Tobacco. — Tobacco,  like  other 
plants,  contains  small  proportions  of  starch,  sugar  and 
woody  fiber,  or  cellulose,  the  amount  and  nature  of 
which  governs,  to  some  extent,  the  burn  of  tobacco. 
These  elements,  together  with  the  fatty  and  resinous 
substances  present,  also  have  much  influence  on  the 


82  TOBACCO    LEAF. 

flavor  of  the  leaf.  The  nitrogen-containing  substances 
or  albuminoids,  also  form  an  important  constituent,  the 
effect  of  which  is  but  little  understood,  and  the  same  is 
true  of  the  acids  in  tobacco — nitric,  citric,  acetic  and 
pectic.  There  are  other  organic  or  carbonaceous  sub- 
stances, of  which  still  less  is  known. 

Ash  or  Mineral  Ingredients  make  up  a  large  part  of 
the  tobacco  plant.  The  ash  constitutes  from  15  to  25 
per  cent  of  the  chemically  dry  leaf,  5  to  15  per  cent  of 
the  stalk,  and  from  5  to  15  per  cent  of  the  root.  The 
quantity  and  character  of  the  mineral  ingredients  have 
a  profound  influence  on  the  quality  of  leaf,  especially 
for  smoking.  These  mineral  ingredients  vary  widely  in 
different  varieties,  and  also  in  the  same  variety  under 
different  conditions  (see  Table  IV,  Pages  112  and  113). 
Potash  and  lime  each  constitute  about  one-third  of  the 
ash,  the  other  third  being  composed  of  phosphoric  acid, 
magnesia,  soda,  sulphuric  acid,  carbonic  acid,  chlorine, 
silica  (sand),  alumina  (clay)  and  iron  (ferric  oxide). 

Effect  of  Constituents. — The  principal  ingredients 
that  are  supposed  to  most  affect  quality  are,  nicotine, 
nitrogen,  potash,  lime,  magnesia  and  chlorine.  The 
quantity  of  nicotine  in  the  leaf  is  governed,  to  some  ex- 
tent, by  the  amount  and  character  of  the  nitrogenous 
substances  the  plant  feeds  upon.  The  other  elements 
also  vary  in  amount  with  variety,  soil,  climate  and  fer- 
tilizer. One  cannot  speak  positively  of  their  effect  upon 
the  curing  or  chewing  quality  of  the  leaf. 

Why  certain  crops  of  leaves  of  tobacco  burn  well 
and  others  burn  badly,  is  not  fully  understood.  Nessler 
demonstrated  that  tobacco  which  contains  large  quanti- 
ties of  chlorides  does  not  burn  well,  especially  when  the 
quantity  of  potash  present  is  small.  Nessler  found, 
from  examination  of  forty-six  samples  of  tobacco  grown 
in  different  parts  of  Baden,  on  soils  of  diverse  character, 
that  the  more  potash  and  the  less  chlorine  a  leaf  con- 


SCIENCE   IN   ITS  APPLICATION.  83 

tains,  the  longer  it  will  continue  to  glow  when  lighted. 
The  higher  the  per  cent  of  potash,  the  more  chlorine 
may  be  present  without  seriously  affecting  the  burn  of 
the  leaf.  A  Sumatra  leaf  with  0.64  to  0.78  per  cent  of 
chlorine  and  5  per  cent  of  potash,  burned  very  well, 
while  a  Baden  tobacco  with  0.4  per  cent  chlorine  and 
only  3  per  cent  of  potash  burned  badly.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  less  chlorine  there  is  in  the  leaf,  the  less  pot- 
ash is  necessary  to  secure  a  good  burning  quality.  He 
concludes  that  no  tobacco  burns  well  which  has  less 
than  2.5  per  cent  potash,  if  there  is  with  it  more  than 
0.4  per  cent  chlorine. 

Schloesing  made  some  experiments  on  poor,  sandy 
soil  that  was  somewhat  calcareous,  and  yet  clayey 
enough  to  be  rather  tenacious.  The  soil  contained  very 
little  chlorine,  sulphuric  acid  or  potash.  Plots  to  which 
no  potash  was  applied  gave  bad-burning  tobacco ; 
those  fertilized  with  chlorides  gave  tobacco  which  con- 
tained about  four  times  as  much  chlorine  as  the  others, 
showing  that  chlorine  is  readily  assimilated  by  the  plant ; 
and  the  tobacco  containing  this  large  proportion  of  chlo- 
rine burned  badly. 

Both  Schloesing  and  Nessler,  from  independent  ex- 
periments and  investigations,  agree  that  the  burning 
quality  of  tobacco  is  governed  by  the  presence  of  the 
soluble  carbonate  of  potash,  and  that  when  the  potash  is 
combined  with  chlorine,  the  combustibility  is  poor.  This 
is  not  fully  confirmed  by  the  Poquonock  experiments, 
which  seem  to  indicate  that  a  small  amount  of 
chlorine  is  not  objectionable,  while  it  is  essential  to  nor- 
mal plant  growth.  But  an  excess  of  chlorine  is  unfavor- 
able to  a  good  burn.  This  is  true  both  before  and  after 
fermentation.  Plots  K  and  L  received  much  more  chlo- 
rine than  the  others,  it  being  supplied  in  the  double 
manure  salt ;  the  leaf  from  these  plots  had  less  capacity 
to  hold  fire  than  most  of  the  others. 


84  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

Other  investigations  in  this  country  also  do  not  sus- 
tain the  idea  that  the  burning  quality  is  entirely  con- 
trolled by  the  composition  of  the  ash,  and  it  is  now  be- 
lieved that  combustibility  is  the  result  of  several  condi- 
tions, of  which  the  ash  is  but  one.  These  conditions 
are,  the  abundance  of  organic  potash  salts  (i.  e.,  those 
yielding  carbonate  of  potash),  the  abundance  but  not  ex- 
cessive quantity  of  woody  tissue,  and  the  abundance  of 
sulphates.  Mineral  salts  which  fuse  at  the  burning 
temperature,  such  as  the  chlorides  and  phosphates  of 
potash  and  soda,  hinder  free  burning ;  and  sugar,  gum 
and  albuminous  matters  are  difficult  of  combustion,  and 
therefore  impede  burning. 

Composition  at  Different  Stages  of  Growth  also 
varies  widely  in  both  organic  and  mineral  substances. 
Original  analyses  of  three  Virginia  tobaccos,  set  forth  in 
the  Appendix,  show  that  at  time  of  cutting,  the  leaf  con- 
tains about  twice  as  much  ash  as  the  stalk,  and  the 
same  quantity  of  nitrogen,  more  lime,  and  twice  as  much 
insoluble  matter ;  but  the  stalk  contains  over  twice  as 
much  phosphoric  acid  as  the  leaf,  one-third  more  potash 
and  four  times  the  chlorine.  The  composition  of  the  leaf 
alone  undergoes  but  little  change  from  time  of  topping 
until  cured.  The  stalk,  when  cured,  has  gained  slightly 
in  nitrogen  and  phosphoric  acid,  much  in  lime,  but 
has  lost  nearly  one-fourth  of  its  potash. 

How  to  Supply  the  Principal  Ingredients  is  the  vital 
problem,  in  growing  fine  tobaccos.  But  a  sharp  distinc- 
tion must  be  drawn  between  what  the  tobacco  plant  con- 
tains, and  how  large  a  supply  of  the  elements  of  the 
plant  food  are  essential  for  a  successful  crop.  Chemical 
analyses  are  valuable  in  determining  absolutely  the  per- 
centage of  the  food  elements  contained  in  the  plant,  and 
they  give  an  excellent  basis  for  intelligently  framing  a 
manurial  supply,  but  afford  little  indication  of  the 
quantity  required.  Under  the  old  English  system  of 


SCIENCE  IS   ITS  APPLICATION.  85 

farming,  the  great  desideratum  was  to  make  a  soil  rich 
in  plant  food,  that  could  be  called  upon  to  grow  any 
crop  suitable  to  the  climate ;  of  late  years,  in  this  coun- 
try, the  tendency  has  been  to  fertilize  especially  for  the 
crop  under  cultivation.  One  system  is  fertilizing  the 
land,  the  other  is  fertilizing  the  crop.  With  tobacco, 
and  in  fact  with  all  market  garden  crops,  fertilizing  the 
soil  is  the  method  to  he  followed,  except  that  for  tobacco 
an  excess  of  phosphoric  acid  is  unnecessary,  and  also 
that  special  care  must  be  taken  to  exclude  all  compounds 
of  chlorine. 

This  system  of  stocking  the  land  with  an  excess  of 
manurial  matter  is  the  more  essential  for  tobacco,  be- 
cause lands  are  very  differently  affected  by  the  fertilizing 
elements.  Some  lands  have  a  great  power  of  fixing  and 
retaining  potash  in  an  almost  insoluble  form ;  others 
have  a  strong  affinity  for  lime ;  and  much  difference  is 
noticed  in  the  ease  with  which  the  nitrogen  supply  is 
developed  for  the  use  of  the  growing  crop.  The  only 
safe  rule  is  to  give  a  superabundance  of  all  forms  of 
plant  food  that  are  required.  More  care  is  necessary  in 
the  selection  of  manurial  supply  for  tobacco  than  for 
any  other  crop,  because  it  is  a  remarkably  delicate  plant, 
and  the  texture  and  burning  qualities  of  the  leaf  are 
largely  influenced  by  the  materials  upon  which  it  feeds. 

Another  reason  why  tobacco  and  many  other  quick- 
growing  crops  require  much  larger  stores  of  plant  food 
in  the  soil  than  is  found  in  the  chemical  analyses  of  the 
product,  is  because  the  roots  of  the  crop  cannot  occupy 
every  portion  of  the  soil,  especially  in  the  early  stages  of 
growth.  The  demand  made  on  the  soil,  or  on  fertili- 
zers, by  the  tobacco  crop,  is  greater  than  that  made  by 
any  other  crops  which  receive  as  much  of  nearly  every 
kind  of  plant  food.  Hay  is  almost  as  exhaustive  as 
tobacco,  measured  in  total  extract  from  the  soil,  but 
grass  grows  the  whole  year  throughout,  save  when  the 


86  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

ground  is  frozen  or  covered  with  snow,  or  for  more  than 
eight  months.  It  is  true,  the  period  of  active  growth 
required  to  mature  a  hay  crop  begins  in  spring,  and  is 
finished  in  three  months  ;  but  during  the  year  previous, 
for  at  least  five  months,  the  grass  roots  are  storing  up 
food  in  their  root  stocks,  or  bulbs,  for  the  more  rapid 
aftergrowth.  Tobacco,  on  the  other  hand,  cannot  be 
set  out  in  the  field  before  summer  is  begun,  and  it 
should  be  in  the  shed  in  about  three  months.  Thus, 
its  growth  must  be  a  very  rapid  one,  and  the  supplies 
of  food  in  the  soil  must  be  very  abundant,  so  that  the 
rapidly  extending  roots  may  be  met  at  every  point  with 
their  necessary  pabulum.  An  acre  of  first-rate  grass 
land  yields,  as  the  result  of  eight  months'  growth,  two 
to  three  tons  of  crop,  while  the  tobacco  land  must  yield 
that  weight  in  three  months. 

The  real  disparity,  however,  is  much  greater.  The 
principal  growth  of  tobacco  is  accomplished  in  the  hot- 
test summer  weather  and  in  a  period  of  some  forty  or 
sixty  days.  Very  heavy  fertilizing  is,  therefore,  neces- 
sary, to  provide  for  its  nourishment,  and  the  more  so 
because  the  best  tobacco  lands  are  light  in  texture  and 
may  suffer  from  loss  by  drainage,  evaporation  or  decom- 
position, to  say  nothing  of  drouth. 

TOBACCO   DOES   NOT   EXHAUST   THE   SOIL. 

One  of  the  most  important  truths  established  by  the 
application  of  science  to  tobacco,  is  the  annihilation  of 
the  old  idea  that  this  crop  exhausts  the  soil  to  an  extra- 
ordinary degree.  It  is  true  that  tobacco  requires  plenty 
of  food  in  the  soil,  as  we  have  just  pointed  out.  But  if 
this  is  obtained  by  growing  the  crop  on  virgin  soil, 
and  by  not  returning  to  the  land  what  the  crop 
takes  from  it,  then  tobacco  does  exhaust  the  soil ;  so 
will  any  staple  crop  under  the  same  treatment.  This 
was  the  method  long  followed,  especially  in  the  South, 


SCIENCE  IN  ITS  APPLICATION.  87 

to  clear  up  new  land,  as  old  fields  became  barren  from 
constant  cropping  without  manures  or  fertilizers. 
Cocke  declared  against  tobacco  years  ago,  because  "its 
culture  had  exhausted  whole  counties  in  Virginia,  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  head  of  tide  waters,"  but  the  same 
exhaustion  is  found  in  sections  where  tobacco  was  never 
grown. 

In  both  instances,  soil  poverty  was  due  to  soil  deple- 
tion— constant  taking  away  of  crops  and  not  putting 
back  what  they  removed  from  the  soil.  Low  in  prices 
as  lands  were,  it  was  found  much  easier  and  cheaper  to 
occupy  fresh  soils  than  reclaim  exhausted  ones.  Com- 
plaint is  now  made  in  the  "White  Burley  districts  of 
Kentucky  and  Ohio,  that  the  soil  is  becoming  rapidly 
exhausted  under  tobacco  culture,  even  where  manuring 
is  practiced.  This  is  easily  accounted  for.  The  surface 
of  the  country  is  rolling,  or  extremely  broken,  and  when 
planted  in  a  crop  that  requires  clean  cultivation,  vast 
quantities  of  the  surface  soil  are  swept  into  the  valleys 
with  every  rain  that  falls,  gullies  form  rapidly,  and  the 
earth  becomes  scarified  with  gaping,  ugly  wounds,  down 
which  flows  the  very  lifeblood  of  the  soil.  The  remedy 
for  this  waste  is  rotation  with  grasses,  clover,  alfalfa 
and  grain  crops,  to  bind  the  soil. 

The  truth  is,  no  crop  is  exhaustive  if  it  is  properly 
fertilized  ;  all  that  is  required  is  to  supply  an  abundance 
of  every  element  that  the  plant  needs,  and  of  the  right 
quality  and  condition  ;  for  if  this  is  not  done,  the  latent 
resources  of  the  soil  are  drawn  upon  to  supply  the  defi- 
ciency, and  the  soil  is  impoverished  just  so  far  as  it  is 
drained  of  any  element  essential  to  plant  growth.  Fur- 
thermore, the  subject  of  the  exhaustion  of  the  soil  by 
tobacco  should  be  considered  from  two  standpoints : 
First,  what  is  actually  removed  from  the  soil  by  the  sale 
of  the  crop  ;  second,  what  is  required  in  the  soil  to  pro- 
duce the  crop.  And  a  casual  view  of  the  subject  would 


88 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


fail  to  find  an  intimate  connection  between  the  two,  as 
is  explained  below. 

What  Tobacco  Takes  From  the  Soil—  This  has  been 
very  carefully  determined  by  Johnson  for  Connecticut- 
grown  seedleaf,  and  by  Davidson  for  Virginia-grown 
tobaccos,  as  appears  in  the  subjoined  table.  The  seed- 
leaf  crop  mentioned  was  grown  from  8000  plants  on  one 
acre,  yielding  an  average  of  1875  pounds  of  pole-cured 
leaves  (or  1400  pounds  of  water-free  leaf),  and  3200 
pounds  of  pole-cured  stalks  (or  about  1300  pounds  of 
water-free  stalks).  Davidson's  average  of  analyses  of 
Bradley  broadleaf,  Goldfmder,  White  Burley  and  Yellow 
Orinoco,  shows  a  fair  crop  of  Virginia  tobaccos  to  be 
1000  pounds  per  acre  of  barn-cured  leaf  (or  928  pounds 
of  water-free  leaf),  and  353  pounds  of  cured  stalks  (or 
334  pounds  of  water-free  stalks) : 

Table  I.— POUNDS  OF  PLANT  FOOD  KEMOVED  FROM  THE   SOIL   BY 

THE  TOBACCO  CROP  GROWN  ON  ONE  ACRE. 


Connecticut  Seedleaf. 

Virginia  Tobacco. 

1875  Ibs. 
cured 
leaf. 

3200  Ibs. 
of 
stalks. 

Total. 

1000  Ibs. 
leaf. 

353  Ibs. 
stalks. 

Total. 

Nitrogen, 
Phosphoric  acid, 
Potash, 
Soda, 
Lime, 
Magnesia, 
Sulphuric  acid, 
Chlorine, 

65 

8 

4 
81 
25 
16 
5 

8 
49 
3 
13 
5 
5 
6 

97 
16 
138 
7 
94 
30 
21 
11 

44 
5 
52 

49 
19 

12 
2 
17 

3 

56 
69 

57 
22 

Total, 

293 

121 

414 

The  Connecticut  crop  of  1875  pounds  of  cured  leaf 
takes  relatively  large  quantities  of  nitrogen  (100  pounds), 
potash  (140  pounds)  and  lime  (100  pounds),  and  very 
little  phosphoric  acid  (16  pounds).  The  Virginia  leaf 
also  draws  heavily  on  these  elements,  and  a  crop  of  Vir- 
ginia tobacco  yielding  the  same  weight  (1875  pounds  of 
leaf)  contains,  of  nitrogen  98  pounds,  potash  120  pounds, 


SCIENCE  IN  ITS  APPLICATION.  89 

lime  99  pounds,  and  phosphoric  acid  13  pounds,  in  the 
leaf  and  stalk. 

It  also  appears  that  the  stalks  in  such  an  acre  of 
Connecticut  tobacco  weigh,  at  the  time  of  cutting, 
about  9500  pounds,  of  which  about  8300  pounds  is  water. 
Two-thirds  of  this  is  evaporated  in  curing,  and  the  rest 
is  carried  back  to  the  field  in  the  cured  stalks.  The 
later  the  crop  is  cut,  the  more  nitrogen  and  mineral  ele- 
ments it  contains ;  stalks  cut  on  August  22  contained 
26  pounds  of  nitrogen  per  acre,  which  increased  to  42 
pounds  when  not  cut  until  September  7.  Like  gains 
occur  in  Virginia  and  other  types  of  tobacco.  No  deter- 
mination is  at  hand  of  the  amount  of  plant  food  in  the 
roots  of  such  a  Connecticut  crop  as  that  above  named, 
but  the  Virginia  crop  of  1000  pounds  leaf  per  acre  con- 
tains in  its  roots,  of  nitrogen  eight  pounds,  potash  seven 
and  one-half  pounds,  lime  five  and  one-half  pounds, 
phosphoric  acid  and  magnesia,  one  pound  each. 
Whatever  plant  food  the  roots  contain,  of  course,  remains 
in  the  soil,  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  consider  it  after 
the  first  season,  but  on  new  land,  sufficient  plant  food 
must  be  present  to  develop  the  roots  freely,  in  addition 
to  the  other  parts  of  the  plant.  In  any  rational  system 
of  tobacco  culture,  the  stalks  are  always  returned  to  the 
soil  as  fertilizer ;  hence  the  only  fertility  really  lost  is 
that  sold  in  the  leaf. 

But  since  the  entire  plant  must  be  fed,  the  necessity 
of  large  quantities  of  plant  food  is  at  once  apparent,  for 
everything  essential  to  the  perfect  development  of  every 
part  of  the  plant  must  be  present  in  the  soil  in  a  thor- 
oughly available  condition.  The  demands  of  touacco  can 
be  better  appreciated  by  comparing  it  with  other  leading 
field  crops.  And  since  cigar  leaf  is  grown  under  the 
highest  state  of  cultivation  and  with  a  lavish  supply  of 
fertility,  it  is  only  fair  to  use  for  comparison  other  crops 
grown  under  similar  favorable  conditions.  Prof.  John- 


90 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


son  used  for  comparative  purpose  a  crop  of  rye  yielding 
32  bushels  of  grain  and  3800  pounds  of  straw,  corn 
yielding  75  bushels  of  grain  and  8000  pounds  of  stalks 
and  leaves,  2f  tons  of  hay,  and  300  bushels  of  potatoes. 
Davidson  compared  the  yield  of  1000  pounds  of  Virginia 
leaf  per  acre  (and  353  pounds  of  stalks)  with  30  bushels 
of  corn  and  stover,  or  oats,  30  bushels  and  straw  : 

Table  II.— PLANT  FOOD  REMOVED  FROM  AN  ACRE  OF  LAND  BY 
TOBACCO  AND  OTHER  CROPS. 


Connecticut  Seedleaf. 

Phos 
acid 

Pot 
ash 

Lime 

Mag 
nesia 

Total 
ash 

Nitro 
gen 

Tobacco,  1875  Ibs,  leaf  and  stalks, 

16 

138 

94 

30 

424 

97 

Potatoes,  300  bu., 

32 

101 

4 

7 

170 

58 

Hay,  23/4  tons, 

23 

96 

43 

19 

373 

73 

Corn,  75  bu.,  and  stalks. 

53 

147 

42 

28 

430 

105 

Rye,  32  bu.,  and  straw, 

22 

39 

13 

9 

186 

41 

Virginia   Leaf. 

Tobacco,  1000  Ibs,  leaf  and  stalks, 

8 

78 

64 

12 

184 

59 

Corn,  30  bu..  and  stalks, 

15 

46 

12 

13 

121 

45 

Oats,  30  bu.,  and  straw, 

9 

36 

5 

5 

72 

27 

Wheat,  30  bu.,  and  straw, 

23 

28 

10 

8 

95 

45 

Under  a  rational  system  of  husbandry,  cornstalks, 
oat  straw,  wheat  straw  and  hay  are  fed  to  stock,  and 
their  ingredients  return  to  the  soil  in  manure,  just  as 
tobacco  stalks  return  to  the  land.  Hence,  we  should 
only  compare  plant  food  removed  in  the  grain  alone 
with  that  taken  off  in  the  tobacco  leaf  alone.  Eye 
straw,  however,  is  usually  sold,  also  potatoes,  so  that  the 
total  quantity  these  crops  take  from  the  soil  may  be 
compared  with  the  plant  food  in  tobacco  leaf. 

Table  III.— POUNDS  OF  PLANT  FOOD  TAKEN  FROM  THE  SOIL  BY  AV- 
ERAGE YIELDS  PER  ACRE  OF  SO  MUCH  OF  TOBACCO  AND  OTHER 
CROPS  AS  IS  NOT  RETURNED  TO  THE  LAND. 


Connecticut  Leaf. 

Nitrogen. 

Potash. 

Phosphoric 
acid. 

Tobacco,  1875  pounds, 
Corn,  75  bu.  grain, 

65 
74 

89 

16 

8 
30 

Rye,  32  bu., 
Potatoes,  300  bu., 

31 

58 

10 
101 

15 
32 

Virginia  Leaf. 

Tobacco,  1000  pounds, 

44 

52 

5 

Wheat,  30  bu., 

43 

11 

16 

Oats,  30  bu., 

20 

6 

8 

SCIENCE  IN  ITS  APPLICATION.  91 

It  appears  that  the  full  yield  of  Connecticut  tobacco 
takes  from  the  soil  less  nitrogen  than  a  good  crop  of 
corn  grown  under  similar  conditions,  but  little  more 
than  potatoes,  but  twice  as  much  as  rye.  Of  potash, 
tobacco  takes  even  less  than  potatoes,  but  several  times 
as  much  as  corn  or  rye.  Of  phosphoric  acid  the  other 
crops  take  two  or  three  times  as  much  as  tobacco.  In 
Virginia  leaf,  the  same  relative  proportions  hold,  though 
the  quantities  differ,  the  average  crop  of  tobacco  taking 
about  the  same  quantity  of  nitrogen,  nearly  five  times 
as  much  potash,  but  only  one-third  as  much  phosphoric 
acid  as  a  wheat  crop  of  thirty  bushels  per  acre. 

SOME  RELATIONS  OF  BACTERIA  TO  TOBACCO 
CURING  AND  MANUFACTURE. 

BY  WILLIAM  FBEAB. 

There  are  several  distinct  classes  of  organisms  to 
whose  activity  the  various  fermentations  are  traced. 
First  among  these  may  be  named  the  molds,  distin- 
guished by  the  formation  of  a  closely  interwoven  net- 
work of  white,  thread-like  cells,  or  hypha ;  from  this 
network,  or  mycelium,  spring  little  stalks,  swelling  or 
branching  into  larger  heads ;  these  heads,  in  turn,  bear 
the  colored  spores,  or  reproductive  elements,  appearing 
as  a  fine  dust  upon  the  upper  surface  of  the  grayish- 
green  or  black  molds  to  which  jellies,  cheese  and  bread 
kept  in  damp  places  are  subject.  Molds  also  multiply 
by  the  branching  out  of  new  hyphse,  affording  the  root 
from  which  new  stalks  may  spring. 

Another  class  of  organized  ferments  is  that  to  which 
yeast  belongs.  The  organism  is  much  simpler  in  these 
cases  than  in  the  molds.  It  is  composed  of  only  a  sin- 
gle cell,  or  papery  sac,  filled  with  jelly-like  protoplasm. 
This  protoplasm  carries  on,  however,  most  of  the  func- 
tions of  more  highly  organized  beings.  Yeasts  repro- 
duce by  budding, — the  sprouting  from  the  side  of  the 


92  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

parent  cell  of  a  little,  bubble-like  offshoot;  this,  when 
sufficiently  developed,  detaches  from  the  parent  and 
assumes  an  independent  existence. 

Most  important  of  all  is  that  class  of  ferments 
known  in  general  as  bacteria.  There  are  many  spe- 
cies of  these,  differing  in  shape,  mode  of  aggregation, 
conditions  of  life  and  products.  If  a  liquid  containing 
bacteria  be  examined,  it  will  often  be  found  swarming 
with  these  little  organisms,  ranging  from  ^^  to  less 
than  ^isiT  of  an  inch  in  size,  according  to  the  species. 
The  little  beings  are  not  quiet,  but  are  vigorously  active. 

Eeproduction  of  the  various  species  is  accomplished 
in  two  ways  :  First,  by  fission,  or  the  splitting  in  half 
of  the  single-celled  parent ;  the  small  halves  then  sepa- 
rate and  grow  to  full  size.  Second,  many  species  develop 
within  the  body  of  the  parent  a  number  of  thick-walled 
bodies,  or  spores,  which  are  later  discharged,  and  which, 
under  favoring  conditions,  develop  into  the  normal,  ma- 
ture bacterium. 

Most  important  features  of  these  organisms  are 
their  wide  distribution  and  their  wonderfully  rapid  mul- 
tiplication. Though  requiring  a  certain  amount  of 
moisture  for  their  active  life,  they  are  not  destroyed  by 
slow  drying  at  a  low  temperature.  In  consequence,  they 
are  carried  as  dust  by  every  passing  wind,  to  new  lodg- 
ing places,  where  they  develop  if  the  conditions  are 
favorable.  As,  under  most  favorable  conditions,  the 
individuals  of  some  species  can  reproduce  in  twenty 
minutes  after  their  own  birth,  it  is  a  simple  arithmetical 
process  to  show  that  a  very  short  time  would  suffice  for 
them  to  occupy  the  globe.  Such  favorable  conditions 
never  occur;  but  the  multiplication  often  observed  is, 
nevertheless,  tremendous  ;  and  the  fermentative  changes 
produced  are  correspondingly  great. 

The  conditions  surrounding  them  greatly  influence 
their  activity  and  multiplication.  Some  require  free 


SCIENCE   IN  ITS   APPLICATION.  93 

access  to  air,  and  are  called  aerobies,  in  consequence ; 
others,  when  cut  off  from  the  air,  are  able  to  obtain  from 
oxygen-containing  compounds  all  of  this  element  they  re- 
quire for  respiration ;  such  are  called  anaerobies.  Usu- 
ally, bacteria  require  a  slightly  alkaline  medium  for  their 
development ;  only  a  few  can  survive  in  an  acid  liquid  ; 
whereas,  molds  require  the  latter  medium  for  their  best 
growth.  When,  therefore,  the  lactic  ferment,  which 
sours  milk,  and  the  nitrifying  ferment,  which  forms 
nitric  acid  in  the  soil,  have  produced  an  excess  of  acid, 
they  cease  to  act  until  the  excess  is  neutralized,  when 
they  renew  their  production  of  acid.  Vinegar,  there- 
fore, serves  as  a  preventive  of  bacterial  fermentation  in 
food  preparations.  Other  substances,  conspicuously  car- 
bolic acid,  copper  and  mercury  salts,  similarly  prevent 
the  action  of  bacteria,  and  destroy  them. 

While  diffuse  light  is  not  fatal,  direct  sunshine  is 
the  most  destructive  natural  foe  of  these  ferments. 
They  require  for  their  best  action  certain  temperatures, 
varying  for  different  species.  In  general,  100°  F.  is 
most  favorable ;  below  50°  and  above  150°  F.  few  are 
active,  and  many  are  destroyed.  The  process  of  pasteur- 
izing milk  by  heating  to  150°  for  thirty  minutes  is  based 
upon  this  fact.  Some  bacteria,  and  especially  spores, 
which  are  more  resistant,  owing  to  their  thick  walls,  are 
not  killed  by  dry  temperatures  as  low  as  315°  F.,  or 
above  212°,  the  boiling  point  of  water ;  very  few,  how- 
ever, withstand  the  latter  temperature  if  they  be  moist ; 
consequently,  boiling  the  liquid  containing  them,  or 
steaming  them,  are  among  the  most  commonly  employed 
methods  of  sterilization  of  liquids  or  solids— that  is,  the 
destruction  of  the  bacteria  the  latter  contain. 

Bacteria  differ,  not  only  in  these  respects,  but  in 
the  color,  form  and  consistency  of  the  colonies  they 
make  in  various  liquid  and  solid  media. 

The  most  sharply  distinctive  characteristic,  how- 


94  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

ever,  and  that  most  frequently  useful  for  their  determi- 
nation, is  that  the  products  they  form  are  distinctly  dif- 
ferent. Some  liberate  gas,  and  the  gases  from  various 
species  differ  in  composition.  In  other  cases,  substances 
of  pronounced  odor  or  flavor  are  developed,  as  in  the  pu- 
trefactive fermentations,  and  in  those  of  ripening  cheese 
and  ripening  cream.  The  disease  germs  accomplish 
their  fatal  results,  it  is  now  believed,  more  frequently 
through  the  poisons  they  form  in  the  blood — poisons 
similar,  chemically,  to  the  active  principles  of  snake 
venom — than  through  any  direct  action  of  their  own. 
Ordinarily,  the  conditions  favorable  to  the  develop- 
ment of  one  species  of  bacterium  are  also  such  as  permit 
the  development  of  other  species.  Hence,  under  natural 
conditions,  a  single  species  rarely  occurs  alone.  By  se- 
lection of  the  most  congenial  nutritive  medium  for  a 
given  species  of  which  it  is  desired  to  secure  a  pure  cul- 
ture,— that  is,  a  colony  in  which  no  foreign  species  ex- 
ists,— and  by  regulation  of  temperature  so  that  that 
most  favorable  to  the  species  in  question  may  be  main- 
tained, it  is  possible  to  gradually  eliminate  undesirable 
species  from  a  series  of  cultures,  and  secure  a  culture  in 
which  only  the  species  desired  remains.  The  process  is 
much  hastened,  first,  by  using  a  sterilized  culture  me- 
dium and  sterilized  apparatus ;  second,  by  preventing 
access  of  foreign  germs  from  the  air — this  is  accom- 
plished by  filtering  the  air  to  which  the  solution  is  ex- 
posed, through  cotton- wool,  or  some  similar  substance, 
which  removes  all  floating  dust  from  the  air,  including 
the  dried  germs  ;  third,  by  diluting  the  primary  material 
from  which  the  germs  are  taken,  and  using  a  very  small 
quantity  of  the  diluted  substance  to  act  as  a  starter  for 
the  new  solutions ;  often,  this  process  introduces  into 
some  of  the  cultures  very  few,  if  any,  foreign  species,  so 
that  these  cultures  may  be  made  the  basis  of  further  op- 
erations, and  others,  less  pure,  be  rejected  at  once. 


SCIENCE  IN  ITS  APPLICATION.  95 

Not  only  does  this  great  world  of  organisms,  hover- 
ing unseen  about  us,  bristle  with  enemies  to  man 
and  his  friends,  the  domestic  plants  and  animals,  but 
among  these  enemies  are  numerous  active,  friendly  spe- 
cies, contributing  much  to  our  wealth  and  comfort. 
Thus,  vinegar,  one  of  our  most  important  condiments, 
is  made  only  through  the  agency  of  the  acetic  ferment ; 
alcohol,  a  source  of  fearful  injury  from  its  misuse,  yet 
invaluable  in  science  and  the  arts,  is  made  by  the  action 
of  the  yeasts ;  clover,  the  hope  of  the  despairing  farmer, 
owes  its  soil-enriching  power  to  a  humble  parasitic  bac- 
terium which  seizes  its  roots  for  a  home ;  and  the  finer 
flavors  of  the  most  aromatic  butter  are  traced  to  the  prod- 
ucts of  the  action  of  particular  species  of  bacteria  in  the 
ripening  cream. 

OFFICE   OF   BACTERIA    IN  CURING  TOBACCO. 

Turning  now  to  the  consideration  of  the  influence 
of  bacteria  in  tobacco  culture,  we  omit  all  reference  to 
the  fungous  diseases  to  which  the  growing  plant  is  sub- 
ject, and  confine  attention  to  the  relations  of  these  or- 
ganisms to  the  processes  of  curing  and  sweating.  As 
the  result  of  these  processes,  instead  of  the  green  color, 
rough,  hard  surface,  brittle  web,  black  ash,  dark,  tarry, 
ill-smelling  smoke  and  bitter,  burning  flavor  possessed 
by  a  quickly  dried  tobacco  leaf,  the  leaves  have  a  beau- 
tiful brown  color,  silky  texture,  elastic  web,  light  blue 
and  pleasantly  aromatic  smoke,  a  white  or  gray  ash,  and 
little  of  the  unpleasant  flavor  of  the  green  leaf. 

A  very  large  fraction  of  these  changes  in  quality  is 
wrought  during  the  first  of  these  processes,  the  curing. 
Despite  the  fact  that  the  Germans  term  it  das  Trocknen, 
or  drying,  it  is  neither  a  simple  physical  process,  nor  a 
purely  chemical  one.  The  results  of  late  studies  by 
Muller-Thurgau  *  and  Dr.  J.  Behrens,  f  show  that  dur- 

•Landwirthschaftliches  Jahrbuch,  14,  485-512. 

t  Landwirthschaf  tliclie  Versuchs-Stationen,  43,  280-293. 


96  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

ing  the  process  there  is  a  large  decrease  in  the  dry  mat- 
ter of  the  leaf,  as  well  as  in  the  water.  The  starch  is 
turned  to  glucose,  and  the  latter  passes  back  into  the 
veins,  midrib  and  stem,  and  is  finally  destroyed  there 
and  breathed  off  as  carbonic  acid  gas  and  water,  owing 
to  an  abnormally  increased  respiration.  There  is  no 
loss  of  nitrogen,  either  in  the  form  of  nicotine,  nitric 
acid  or  albuminoids ;  the  latter  compounds  are,  however, 
largely  split  up  with  the  resultant  formations  of  aspara- 
gine  and  other  amides, — a  change  similar  to  that  which 
occurs  whenever  leaves  are  for  a  long  time  shaded,  or  to 
that  observed  in  the  process  of  ensilage.  Mere  drying, 
and  the  slow  oxidation  caused  by  the  direct  action  of 
the  oxygen  of  the  air,  do  not  suffice  to  explain  these 
changes.  They  are  the  result  of  life  action. 

It  is  not  probable,  though,  that  the  lower  organisms 
are  important  in  the  normal  curing  process.  Behrens 
remarks,*  "micro-organisms  were  not  found  in  an  active 
condition  upon  the  curing  leaves,  and  their  development 
upon  the  surface  of  the  leaves,  the  sole  point  open  to 
their  attack,  is  rendered  well-nigh  impossible,  owing  to 
its  dryness,  to  say  nothing  of  the  general  dry  condition 
of  the  inner  tissues." 

The  changes  occur  only  while  the  protoplasm  of  the 
leaf  cells  retains  life.  If  the  leaf  be  frozen,  or  chloro- 
formed, the  protoplasm  is  killed,  and  no  normal  curing 
can  be  effected  thereafter.  Evidently,  the  changes  ob- 
served during  the  curing  are  due  to  an  abnormal  action 
of  the  dying  protoplasm  of  the  leaves  themselves ;  and 
bacterial  aid  offers  no  advantages. 

During  this  process,  however,  the  lower  organisms 
sometimes  act  injuriously.  "Pole-burn"  is  prevalent 
during  warm,  damp,  foggy  weather;  in  a  few  hours, 
the  whole  crop  may  be  turned  to  a  dark  brown,  wet, 

*Loc.  cit.,  p.  286. 


SCIENCE   IN   ITS    APPLICATION.  97 

soggy  and  easily  torn  lot  of  leaves,  hopelessly  damaged. 
Dr.  Win.  C.  Sturgis,*  in  describing  this  disease,  says : 
"It  is  characterized  by  the  appearance  on  the  surface  of 
the  leaf,  of  small  blackened  areas,  giving  the  leaf  the 
aspect  of  having  been  sprinkled  with  some  corrosive  liquid. 
.  .  .  These  areas  increase  in  size,  become  confluent, 
and  sometimes  within  thirty-six  hours,  or  at  most,  forty- 
eight,  not  only  is  the  whole  leaf  affected,  but  the  entire 
contents  of  the  curing  barn  may  be  rendered  quite 
worthless  as  tobacco.  Microscopic  study  revealed  in  the 
center  of  each  blackened  spot  a  minute,  elevated  pustule. 
Sections  through  the  center  of  one  of  these  pustules 
showed  that  the  tissue  of  the  leaf  was  largely  disinte- 
grated, and  the  cells  themselves  were  largely  filled  with 
bacteria.  .  .  .  They  develop  rapidly  in  the  tissues 
of  the  leaf,  raising  the  epidermis,  and  finally  breaking 
through  at  one  or  more  points  in  the  blackened  area, 
.  .  .  they  spread  out  in  a  thin,  slimy  film,  .  .  . 
forming  a  brown,  translucent  crust  of  cheesy  consistency, 
and  composed  entirely  of  the  bacteria  themselves." 

In  tracing  the  development  of  the  disease,  this  au- 
thor states  that,  at  first,  the  surface  of  the  leaf  is  at- 
tacked by  a  fungus  of  the  genus  Cladosporium,  related 
to  the  leaf-spot  disease  of  the  tomato.  This  does  little 
direct  injury,  but  after  some  time  the  leaf  is  attacked  by 
the  bacteria,  which  swarm  into  the  interior  through  the 
breaches  made  by  the  Cladosporium,  the  remains  of 
which  are  found  mingled  with  the  bacteria.  Of  the  lat- 
ter, there  are,  at  least,  two  species,  one  a  true  Bacteri- 
um, the  other  a  Micrococcus,  of  the  variety  Streptococcus. 

These  bacteria  develop  best  between  70°  and  90°  F., 
but  a  temperature  above  90°  to  110°,  or  below  35°  to  40°, 
checks  their  development.  Furthermore,  all  attempts 
to  inoculate  the  cured  tobacco  with  them  failed ;  the 


*  Report  of  the  Connecticut  Ag.  Exp.  Sta.,  1891,  pp.  168-186. 

7 


98  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

crop  is  in  little  danger  after  a  period  varying  from  ten 
to  twenty  days  after  the  beginning  of  curing.  The  rem- 
edy suggested  is  free  ventilation  and  control  of  tempera- 
ture by  aid  of  artificial  heat. 

Behrens,*  in  a  similar  study,  found  instead  of  a 
Cladosporium,  Botrytis  cinerea  P. ,  a  spore-bearing  fun- 
gus, and  Sclerotinia  Liber tiana,  Fckl.,  acting  as  the 
forerunners  of  decay,  while  others  f  have  noted  Pleo- 
spora  sp.,  Botrytis  vulgaris,  Fr.,  and  two  species  of  the 
genus  Muwr  as  thus  active. 

Another  disease  to  which  curing  tobacco  is  also  sub- 
ject, is  "  stem  rot,"  or  white  vein.  This  often  attacks  the 
stalk  a  few  days  after  cutting,  but  sometimes  appears, 
late  in  the  curing,  upon  imperfectly  dried  ribs  and  veins. 
These  parts  of  the  leaf  are  covered  with  patches  of  a 
long-piled,  velvety  mold  of  pure  white  color.  Later, 
the  web  of  the  leaf  is  often  invaded.  These  white 
patches  are  the  mycelium  of  a  species  belonging  to  the 
genus  Botrytis;  the  threads  of  the  mycelium,  first  at- 
tacking the  surface,  later  penetrate  deeply  into  the  un- 
derlying tissues.  From  the  mycelial  threads  spring  erect 
fibers,  one-fourth  of  an  inch  high,  giving  the  velvety 
appearance.  These  erect  stems  bear  branches,  extend- 
ing at  right  angles,  and  at  the  tips  of  these  branches  are 
formed  the  reproducing  spores.  This  advanced  state  of 
development  is  rarely  reached  on  the  curing  tobacco,  be- 
cause the  time  is  too  short  and  the  moisture  insufficient. 
The  formation  of  spores  occurs  in  the  stems  and  ribs 
after  the  stripping,  and  often  the  fungus  springs  up 
over  the  floor  of  the  curing  barn,  and  the  next  crop  of 
leaf  hung  in  the  building  will  be  in  danger  of  inocula- 
tion by  means  of  the  spores  developed  by  this  growth  of 
the  fungus.  The  remedies  suggested  by  SturgisJ  are 

•Zeitschrift  fUr  Pflanzenkranklieiten,  3,  p.  82. 

t  Sturgis,  Report  of  the  Connecticut  Agricultural  Experiment  Sta- 
tion, 1893.  p.  85. 

t  Report  of  the  Connecticut  Agricultural  Ex.  Sta.,  1891,  p.  185. 


SCIENCE   IN   ITS   APPLICATION.  99 

the  burning  of  all  infected  waste  material  from  an  did 
crop ;  the  thorough  fumigation  of  the  curing  barn,  by 
burning  sulphur  after  the  removal  of  the  crop,  and 
again  two  weeks  before  the  introduction  of  the  new 
crop  ;  the  sprinkling  of  the  floor  with  a  mixture  of  equal 
parts  of  dry  air-slaked  lime  and  sulphur ;  or  even  the 
covering  of  the  earthen  floor  with  an  inch  of  clean  soil. 

OFFICE   OF   BACTERIA   IN   TOBACCO   FEKMENTATION. 

While  the  curing  of  the  tobacco  is,  in  all  probability, 
the  effect  of  modified  activity  of  the  leaf  cells  themselves, 
the  same  cannot  be  said  of  the  sweating.  At  the  close 
of  the  curing  process  the  leaves  are  fully  dead.  If  the 
leaves  be  remoistened,  packed  closely  together  and  allowed 
to  stand,  an  action  sets  up,  liberating  heat  and  introduc- 
ing new  qualities  into  the  tobacco.  Nessler  *  was  the  first 
to  explicitly  declare  that  the  process  was  distinctly  a 
fermentative  one;  although  Roller f  notes  the  addition 
of  yeast  to  promote  the  rapidity  of  the  action,  implying 
a  more  or  less  clear  recognition  of  the  analogy  between 
this  process  and  alcoholic  fermentation. 

At  the  time  Nessler  wrote,  the  principles  and  meth- 
ods of  bacteriological  research  were  unknown,  so  that 
his  reasoning  from  analogy  could  not  be  submitted  to 
direct  proof  by  experiment.  Since  then,  however,  a 
number  of  interesting  researches  have  been  made.  Of 
these,  one  of  the  earlier  is  that  of  Th.  Schloesing  J  upon 
the  fermentations  of  tobacco  used  for  the  preparation  of 
snuff.  Work  by  the  elder  Schloesing  had  shown  that 
there  was  a  heavy  consumption  of  atmospheric  oxygen 
by  the  fermenting  tobacco.  Th.  Schloesing  set  out  to 
ascertain  whether  this  was  due  to  a  purely  chemical 
change,  or  whether  bacterial  action  was  wholly  or  par- 

*Der  Tabak,  1867,  pp.  122-136. 
tDer  Tabak,  Augsburg,  1858,  p.  75. 

t  Memorial   des  manufactures  de  1'  etat,  Vol.  I,  Part  4,  pp.  514-552; 
Vol.  II,  Part  1,  pp.  119-136;  Part  2,  pp.  192-210. 


100  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

tially  responsible  for  it.  He  used  samples  sterilized, 
and  others  unsterilized,  taken  from  the  same  lot  of 
tobacco ;  some  was  kept  at  a  uniform  temperature  and 
some  simply  prevented  from  cooling  below  a  certain 
point.  He  concludes  that  at  a  temperature  below  104° 
F.,  or  above  158°  F0,  and  possibly  varying  little  from 
122°  F.,  the  action  is  a  purely  chemical  one,  with  which 
lower  organisms  have  nothing  to  do.  Theoretically,  he 
believes  the  changes  Drought  about  by  snuff  fermenta- 
tions might  be  accomplished  entirely  without  the  aid  of 
lower  organisms.  In  practice,  however,  they  serve  to 
start  the  changes  and  develop  the  heat  that  is  necessary 
to  setting  up  the  more  rapid  oxidations.  "  The  physical 
properties  of  a  good  snuff  tobacco,"  he  says,  "can  be 
secured  in  two  months  at  158°  F.,  in  less  time  at  176° 
F.,  and  in  ten  to  twelve  days  at  212°  F.,  while  the  desired 
internal  chemical  changes  are  accomplished  in  the  same 
period  at  the  latter  temperature."  He  finds  that  a  new 
fermentation  is  set  up  every  time  the  tobacco  is  turned 
and  repacked,  and  that  the  sum  of  the  carbonic  acid 
and  oxygen  in  the  air  of  the  cases  always  exceeds  21  per 
cent,  and  may  run  up  to  35  per  cent.  This  is  regarded 
as  an  evidence  of  the  activity  of  anaerobic  ferments. 
Schloesing  found  present  a  bacillus  and  a  diplococcus. 

He  compared  the  snuff  fermentation  with  the 
aerobic  fermentation  of  stable  manure.  Fesca  and 
Imai  *  think  it  more  closely  comparable  to  the  process 
of  ensilage.  But  Behrens  claims  that,  owing  to  the 
watery  condition  of  silage,  the  fermentation  of  brown 
hay,  a  dryer  product  not  in  use  in  America,  is  more 
strictly  analogous. 

In  the  "sweating"  of  ordinary  leaf,  especially  as 
practiced  in  Germany,  Nessler  says  that  a  temperature 
of  106°  F.  is  attained  in  the  heap  at  a  depth  of  one  foot 

•Lanclwirtliscliaftliches  Jahrbuch,  1888,  p.  327. 


SCIENCE   IN   ITS    APPLICATION.  101 

in  course  of  half  a  week  and,  at  three  feet,  a  tempera- 
ture of  129°  F.  It  is  needful  to  cover  the  heap  with 
cloths  to  absorb  the  condensing  moisture,  which  would 
otherwise  condense  in  the  upper  layers  of  tobacco,  and 
cause  rotting  and  molding.  Smoking  tobacco  is  not  to 
be  allowed  to  heat  above  122  °  F.  Behrens  believes  that 
these  changes  are  to  be  ascribed  chiefly  to  the  action  of 
anaerobic  ferments,  although  a  local  action  of  aerobic 
forms  at  the  same  time  is  not  excluded.  He  found  in 
sweated  tobacco  vigorous  individuals  of  the  widely  dis- 
tributed aerobic  form,  Bacillus  subtilis,  and  also  an 
aerobic  Clostridium,  which,  like  Clostridium  butyricum, 
formed  endospores.  He  does  not  think  the  latter  espe- 
cially active,  but  recalls  the  fact  that  Cohn  attributes  the 
fermentation  or  spontaneous  heating  of  damp  hay  and 
stable  manure  to  the  former  organism.  Behrens*  also 
states  that  he  lias  found  the  mold,  Aspergillus  fumi- 
qatus  in  sweating  tobacco,  upon  six  out  of  eight  samples 
from  three  different  dealers.  While  this  organism  is 
regarded  by  Cohn  as  the  cause  of  the  heating  of  piled- 
up  malt,  it  is  not  supposed  to  play  any  large  part  in  the 
sweat. 

Behrens  endeavored  to  ascertain  the  changes  which 
occur  during  sweating.  He  found  a  loss  of  only  2.5  to 
5.6  per  cent  of  dry  matter,  although  others  put  it  as 
high  as  eight  to  twelve  per  cent — in  the  latter  case,  the 
loss  of  water  is  included.  This  loss  falls  chiefly  upon 
the  soluble  carbohydrates  and  less  upon  the  non-volatile 
organic  acids.  There  is  no  loss  of  nitrogen,  yet  one- 
third  of  the  nicotine  disappears;  it  possibly  serves  as 
food  for  the  lower  organisms,  as  an  earlier  research  f 
has  shown  that  Botrytis  cinerea  can  eat  it.  There  is  a 
loss  of  nitrate  nitrogen  and  a  diminution  of  the  other 

*  Centralblatt  fur  Bakteriologie  und  Parasitenkunde,  11  (1894)  p. 

*  Zeitschr.  f.  Pflanzenkrankheiten,  3  (1893),  pp.  85-86. 


102  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

soluble  substances.     Butyric  acid  is  present  as  one  of  the 
products  of  the  sweat. 

The  investigations  of  Cohn  and  others  haye  shown 
that  the  flavors  of  butter  are  largely  due  to  the  prod- 
ucts formed  by  special  ferments  active  in  ripening  the 
cream.  Pure  cultures  of  one  ferment  produced  nau- 
seous butter ;  of  another,  a  butter  with  all  the  delight- 
ful aroma  and  flavor  of  the  finest  gi*ass  butter.  Selected 
cultures  of  the  latter  bacterium  are  now  on  sale  to  the 
dairymen  of  America. 

SPECIAL  CULTURES    FOR    SPECIAL   FLAVORS  IN  THE  LEAF. 

It  has  recently  been  queried  whether  tobacco, 
which  was  known  not  to  attain  its  finest  flavor  and 
aromatic  smoking  qualities  until  after  the  sweat,  might 
not,  in  the  finer  varieties,  such  as  the  better  Cuban 
brands,  as  contrasted  with  less  excellent  kinds,  owe  its 
excellence  in  the  former  cases  to  the  favoring  influence 
of  some  special  bacterial  ferments. 

It  has  long  been  a  matter  of  comment  among  the 
more  expert  buyers  and  manufacturers,  that  cases,  in  the 
center  of  which  "black  rot"  had  developed  sufficiently 
to  injure  the  leaves  immediately  surrounding,  yielded 
tobacco  of  a  finer  flavor,  more  nearly  approaching  the 
Cuban,  than  was  obtained  from  other  cases  of  the  same 
lot  that  escaped  the  black  rot. 

Emil  Suchsland,*  several  years  since,  published  a 
most  suggestive  paper  upon  this  subject,  from  which  I 
largely  quote  :  "In  connection  with  bacteriological  in- 
vestigations as  to  the  influence  of  certain  physical  con- 
ditions upon  bacterial  development,  made  by  me  under 
the  direction  of  Professor  Zopf,  I  have,  for  a  long 
time,  been  studying  the  nature  of  the  tobacco-sweating 
process.  This  process  is,  it  is  well  known,  of  the  high- 

*Berichte    der  deutschen   botanischen    Gesellschaft,  9  (1891),  pp. 
79-81. 


SCIENCE   IN   ITS   APPLICATION.  103 

est  influence  upon  the  usefulness  and  excellence  of  all 
varieties  of  tobacco.  .  .  .  Thus  far  it  has  been 
regarded  as  a  purely  chemical  process  ;  but  it  has  always 
seemed  to  me  more  probably  a  fermentation  similar  to 
the  lactic,  butyric  and  acetic  acid  fermentations,  which 
are  caused  by  bacteria.  ...  In  all  sweated  tobacco 
thus  far  examined,  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  bacteria  are 
present  in  large  numbers,  but  in  small  variety.  At 
most,  only  two  or  three  species  occur,  belonging  espe- 
cially to  the  Bacteria  proper,  though  sometimes  to  the 
Micrococci.  Tobacco  of  the  following  sorts  was  tested: 
Havana,  St.  Domingo,  Kentucky,  Brazil,  Turkish, 
Grecian,  Russian,  Pfalz,  Alsace-Lorraine,  Breisgau 
and  Uckermark.  Pure  cultures  of  the  bacteria  upon 
these  sorts  were  prepared.  When  tobacco  of  another 
sort  than  that  from  which  the  bacteria  were  taken,  was 
inoculated  by  the  pure  culture  of  the  latter,  the  tobacco 
thus  inoculated  took  on  the  flavor  and  odor  of  the  to- 
bacco from  which  the  bacteria  were  derived. 

"In  view  of  these  facts,  the  sweating  process  as- 
sumes more  importance  than  it  has  thus  far  held. 
Heretofore,  the  aim  in  Germany  has  been  to  improve 
the  tobacco  by  better  culture  and  by  the  introduction  of 
improved  varieties ;  the  latter  soon  deteriorate,  however, 
in  this  climate,  especially  since  the  right  kind  of  fer- 
ments are  not  present  in  the  sweat.  Our  tobacco  alwavs 
suffers  a  sort  of  wild  fermentation.  But  it  is  now  pos- 
sible to  introduce  the  better  ferments  into  our  own 
tobacco  during  the  sweat.  Every  experiment  1  have 
made  has  given  positive  results.  So  surprising  have 
been  the  changes  in  Pfalz  tobacco,  that  excellent  judges 
of  domestic  sorts  have  declared  the  tobacco  thus  sweated 
to  be  a  foreign  product.  " 

Unfortunately,  Suchsland  has  never  carried  further 
the  work  thus  interestingly  outlined.  Nevertheless,  a 
firm  in  Berlin,  Hermann  Giesecke,  offers  for  sale  pure 


104  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

cultures  of  the  bacteria  active  in  the  sweating  of  the 
better  tobacco,  and  Behrens,  who  has  most  recently 
looked  into  the  subject,  by  way  of  investigation,  is, 
though  rightly  conservative,  strongly  inclined  to  accept 
the  practicability  of  Suchsland's  suggestion. 

Clearly,  the  matter  is  one  of  vital  importance  to 
American  growers  and  manufacturers.  It  is  worthy  of 
the  simple,  preliminary  experiments  that  packers  and 
makers  can  carry  out,  as  well  as  of  the  more  perfectly 
controlled  investigations  of  our  tobacco  experiment  sta- 
tions. If,  by  proper  inoculations  and  maintenance  of 
established  conditions  of  moistening  with  water,  or 
other  more  suitable  liquid,  and  of  temperature,  we  can 
impart  to  local  tobacco  the  flavor  and  aromatic  smoke  of 
Cuban  and  other  tropical  tobaccos,  it  will  be  possible  to 
dispense  with  a  large  part  of  the  present  importations 
for  fillers. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MANURES    AND    FERTILIZERS. 

It  is  evident  from  the  preceding  chapter  that  the 
form,  quantity  and  quality  in  which  food  is  furnished 
the  tobacco  crop,  opens  up  a  vast  field  of  vital  impor- 
tance. Yet  it  is  only  within  very  recent  years  that  the 
scientific  aspects  of  the  influence  of  manures  and  fer- 
tilizers upon  tobacco  have  been  studied.  But  as  the 
culture  of  this  crop  increases,  as  the  area  of  virgin  lands 
contracts,  and  as  competition  for  fine  quality  grows,  the 
problem  of  feeding  the  tobacco  plant  is  bound  to  com- 
mand increasing  attention.  We  therefore  elucidate  the 
subject  as  fully  as  the  present  state  of  knowledge  permits. 

Very  little  has  been  conclusively  demonstrated,  as 
yet,  by  the  recently  begun  work  at  our  southern  exper- 
iment stations,  and  the  state  of  the  art  of  fertilization  of 
southern  leaf  is  well  described  in  the  chapters  on  heavy 
leaf  and  manufacturing  tobaccos.  The  most  accurate 
data  are  those  furnished  by  the  experience  of  the  most 
careful  planters  in  the  Connecticut  valley — some  of 
whom  deserve  high  rank  for  the  truly  scientific  char- 
acter of  their  work — and  by  the  several  years'  results  of 
the  Connecticut  (Poquonock)  and  Pennsylvania  exper- 
iment stations'  exhaustive  tests.  From  all  these  sources 
our  data  are  compiled. 

Soil  vs.  Manures  and  Fertilizers. — The  soil  upon 
which  tobacco  is  grown  may  have  as  great  or  greater  in- 
fluence upon  the  leaf  as  the  plant  food  artificially  sup- 
plied. The  soils  usually  preferred  for  the  different 
types  of  tobacco  are  considered  in  later  chapters,  and  it 
105 


106  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

must  be  noted  that  effect  of  manures  and  fertilizers  will 
vary  on  different  soils.  Indeed,  the  soil  is  one  of  na- 
ture's wonderful  laboratories.  The  actions  and  reactions 
that  are  going  on  in  the  soil — chemical,  bacteriological 
and  physical — vary  with  different  localities  and  seasons. 
No  hard  and  fast  rules  can  be  laid  down,  bat  each 
planter,  who  wishes  to  excel  in  growing  fine  tobacco, 
must  experiment  for  himself.  Certain  general  princi- 
ples, however,  seem  deducible  from  the  extensive  studies 
of  Mr.  Milton  Whitney,  chief  of  the  division  of  agricul- 
tural soils,  United  States  department  of  agriculture, 
as  stated  in  the  opening  of  the  chapter  on  cigar  leaf. 

Temperature  and  Rainfall  also  prevent  exact  rules 
in  feeding  tobacco  or  other  crops.  However  carefully  and 
liberally  it  is  fed  will  be  to  little  purpose  if  the  weather 
is  too  cold  or  dry.  Temperature  cannot  be  governed, 
nor  can  too  much  rain  be  avoided,  except  by  drainage, 
but  drouth  can  be  insured  against.  Over  a  large  part  of 
this  country,  tobacco  and  other  crops  suffer  almost  every 
season  from  drouth.  In  Florida,  and  the  middle  South, 
as  well  as  further  north,  drouth  is  liable  to  occur  at 
most  critical  seasons.  The  extensive  tobacco  plantation 
at  Fort  Meade,  Fla.,  is  therefore  equipped  for  irrigation. 
Since  such  simple  methods  of  supplying  water  to  crops 
have  been  perfected,  tobacco  should  not  be  without  in- 
surance against  drouth. 

Irrigating  Tobacco. — Where  the  hydrant  or  aque- 
duct service  cannot  be  drawn  upon  fqr  the  supply  of 
water,  to  be  conducted  through  hose  to  the  field,  res- 
ervoirs may  be  made,  by  scooping  a  hole  in  the  ground 
on  the  nearest  elevation,  and  pumping  it  full  of  water  by 
means  of  a  windmill,  gasolene  engine,  or  other  form 
of  power.  The  power  used  for  such  irrigating  plants 
can  be  employed  for  many  other  purposes  when  not 
needed  for  pumping  water.  The  supply  of  water  can  be 
from  brooks,  ponds  and  wells,  and  the  cost  will  often  be 


FIG.  11.     IRRIGATING    TOBACCO,    MAKING    A    LITTLE    WATER    MOISTEN 
MANY  ROWS  OF  PLANTS. 


107 


108  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

surprisingly  small.  The  first  outfit  of  this  character, 
we  believe,  was  set  up  in  Polk  county,  southern  Florida, 
in  1896,  and  has  produced  remarkable  results.  See 
illustration  of  it  in  the  description  of  the  Florida  tobacco 
industry. 

In  irrigating  tobacco,  great  care  must  be  taken  not 
to  supply  too  much  water  at  a  time.  The  overplus  is 
certain  to  have  a  deleterious  effect,  making  the  leaf 
darker  and  heavier,  and  injuring  its  burning  qualities  as 
well  as  its  flavor  and  aroma.  A  small  stream  run  be- 
tween every  second  row  will  be  better  than  to  run  it 
through  every  row.  The  more  sandy  the  soil,  the 
greater  the  amount  needed,  and  the  more  often  can 
water  be  applied,  with  less  injury  to  the  crop.  Irri- 
gation has  been  so  little  practiced  in  this  country  that 
no  special  directions  can  be  laid  down,  but  each  planter 
must  experiment  for  himself,  keeping  in  mind  the  pe- 
culiarities of  his  soil  and  of  the  leaf  which  he  is  pro- 
ducing. Irrigation  is  a  great  aid  in  getting  a  good 
"stand "of  plants  when  the  ground  is  dry  at  trans- 
planting. 

PRINCIPLES  OF   TOBACCO   FEEDING. 

Tobacco  has  been  grown  for  a  great  many  years  ;  it 
was  grown,  and  successfully,  too,  for  the  market  of 
early  times,  long  before  the  advent  of  artificial  fer- 
tilizers, and  when  the  whole  science  of  modern  ferti- 
lizing was  unknown.  In  those  days,  of  course,  the  only 
dependence  was  upon  virgin  soils,  or  barn  manure,  per- 
haps assisted  by  occasional  dressings  of  wood  ashes. 
The  quality  of  the  tobacco  was  then  much  more  gov- 
erned by  the  natural  peculiarities  of  the  soil  than  is  now 
the  case,  for  the  native  food  supply  of  the  soil  was 
drawn  upon  to  supply  the  elements  in  which  the  manure 
was  lacking,  or  which  the  manure  could  not  supply  with 
sufficient  rapidity  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the 


MANURES   AND   FERTILIZERS.  109 

growing  crop.  Fortunately  for  the  reputation  of  the 
crop,  the  market  was  then  satisfied  with  a  grade  of  leaf 
entirely  different  from  that  now  demanded.  The  ques- 
tion of  quality  was,  of  course,  important,  but  the  class 
of  goods  demanded  was  not  so  fine  and  delicate  as  is 
now  imperative,  and  what  was  a  fine  leaf  then  could  not 
now  be  profitably  raised. 

Now  we  find  that  the  soil  must  be  made  rich  in  all 
elements  demanded  by  the  plant,  and  these  elements 
should  be  in  such  a  thoroughly  soluble  and  available  con- 
dition that  the  plants  can  assimilate  them  without  hin- 
drance. The  plant  is  really  "forced,"  just  as  market 


FIG.  12.     BRUSH  ARRANGED  FOR  BURNING  WHEN  PLA&T  BED  IS  TO  BE 

MADE.    (Tennessee,  Kentucky.) 

garden  crops  are  forced,  by  promoting  a  luxuriant  growth 
through  the  superabundance  of  fertility,  kept  in  a  state 
of  constant  availability  by  thorough  cultivation.  Tillage 
and  fertilizing  go  hand  in  hand  in  the  production  of 
the  crop. 

What  not  to  Use. — It  is  important  to  avoid  applying 
to  the  soil  substances  which  might  injure  any  desirable 
quality  in  the  leaf.  For  instance,  it  is  going  too  far  to 
assert  that  the  use  of  chlorides  invariably  produces  to- 
bacco of  inferior  quality,  for  occasional  experiments 
demonstrate  the  contrary,  but  growers  will  do  well  to 


110  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

avoid  the  use  of  chlorides,  which,  as  the  experience  in  all 
countries  agrees,  are  likely  as  a  rule  to  injure  the  burn- 
ing quality  of  the  leaf.  Chlorides  exist  as  chloride  of 
sodium,  or  common  salt  and  chloride  of  potash,  or 
muriate  of  potash.  Low  grade  sulphates  of  potash, 
such  as  kainit,  carnallite,  krugit,  etc.,  also  contain  a 
large  admixture  of  common  salt,  and  therefore  should 
not  be  used. 

It  has  been  found  that  the  texture  of  the  leaf,  and 
to  some  extent  its  burning  quality,  is  frequently  injured 
by  certain  coarse  forms  of  nitrogenous  matter,  and  some 
substances,  as  castor  pomace,  are  regarded  with  disfavor 
by  manufacturers,  some  of  whom  refuse  to  purchase  a 
crop  grown  on  pomace.  This  is  a  matter  of  far  less 
consequence  than  the  presence  of  chlorine,  for  the  del- 
eterious effects  of  coarse  nitrogen  compounds  can  easily 
be  eliminated.  And  castor  pomace  itself  can  be,  and 
is,  used  with  perfect  safety,  when  it  is  intelligently 
handled.  In  fact,  this  pomace  is  a  very  popular  to- 
bacco fertilizer  in  some  sections,  and  dealers  who  pro- 
fess to  refuse  to  buy  crops  grown  upon  it,  nevertheless 
do  purchase  many  a  lot  so  grown,  being  kept  in  igno- 
rance of  the  fact  by  the  grower,  and  no  complaint  is 
made  when  tlie  grower  is  skillful,  and  has  a  reputation 
for  producing  good  tobacco.  The  Poquonock  experi- 
ments certainly  indicate  castor  pomace  when  it  is  prop- 
erly used. 

The  same  objection  can  be  raised  against  coarse  an- 
imal matter,  such  as  green  slaughterhouse  waste,  coarse 
meat  scraps,  etc.  The  whole  point  is,  that  when  such 
matter  is  applied  directly  to  the  land,  it  should  be  done 
early  in  the  fall,  that  the  process  of  violent  fermentation 
and  putrefaction  may  pass  long  before  the  plants  are  set. 
Such  matter  decomposes  with  an  excessive  fermentation, 
amounting  to  a  violent  putrefaction  and,  owing  to  the 
coarse,  lumpy  form,  this  excessive  fermentation  is  long 


MARCHES    AND   FERTILIZERS.  Ill 

continued,  and  the  nitrogenous  matter  is  not  wholly 
converted  into  nitrates,  and  other  forms  suitable  for 
plant  growth,  until  a  long  time  has  elapsed.  The  early 
stages  of  this  violent  decay  create  a  condition  in  the 
soil  that  is  bad  for  quality  in  tobacco,  developing  a  leaf 
with  coarse  texture,  large  veins  and  an  excess  of  woody 
tissue.  Wherever  possible,  all  animal  and  vegetable 
matter  should  be  ground  to  a  fine,  dry  powder,  in  which 
form  it  is  much  more  easily  disintegrated  and  that,  too, 
without  excessive  fermentation.  Furthermore,  a  much 
more  even  distribution  of  the  fertilizer  can  be  made, 
which  insures  a  thorough  fertilizing  of  the  land,  avoid- 
ing the  liability  of  omitting  parts  of  the  field. 

The  trouble  with  this  class  of  materials  is  entirely 
in  the  mechanical  condition.  Coarse  fertilizers  are  pro- 
verbially slow.  The  same  matter,  in  a  finely  divided 
state,  can  be  used  with  perfect  safety.  But  if,  as  in 
castor  pomace,  this  is  impossible,  it  should  be  applied  so 
long  in  advance  of  the  crop,  .that  all  danger  of  excessive 
decomposition  shall  have  passed  before  the  plants  are  set. 
Chlorine  in  any  form  should  be  avoided  by  the  skillful 
grower,  and  coarse,  nitrogenous  matter  should  be  used 
with  discretion  and  with  an  understanding  of  its  dan- 
gers and  limitations.  These  constitute  the  only  forms 
of  plant  food  that  are  positively  dangerous,  and  that 
should  not  be  used  because  of  the  danger.  Phosphoric 
acid  is  not  assimilated  by  the  crop  to  any  material  ex- 
tent, and  its  application,  in  more  than  very  moderate 
quantity,  is  unnecessary,  and  therefore  wasteful,  unless 
the  soil  is  deficient  in  this  element,  but  its  presence  does 
not  produce  any  markedly  bad  results  ;  it  is  simply  use- 
less to  incur  the  expense  of  an  element  that  is  not  re- 
quired. 


TOBACCO   LEAP. 


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"BUlUin[1I  p 


•9ran   I    :  :§2S3 


•UPOR  <0  «U 


:  -soqd  aiqniosni 


-SOqd  P8U9AUI 


•ptOB  -soqd  9iqniog 


1^*  t--O  CO  CO  O  ^ 


3= 


I   <*>.".  w^0?^:        •  « •*  t  "^i  ^  »  «    •oooooceotooio; 
|   «oi^,cor,g        ^^^gooooco    ^O^O^JH 


" 


MANURES   AND   FERTILIZERS. 
».«*:*«*  :  :«.<*-».«.«*«. 


•pIOB  OJUOqiBQ 


pTOt?  'SOqd  paiia 


-soqd 


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-HOO-M^e^-Joed** 


:  :  :  :dd  :  :  :«d  :  :d  : 


eP^niedie^e«e4ee>4^  : 


N  -J5  t-;  0  0  ^H  so  0  <N  (N  CO  Tf< 


s§ 

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iy  u 

Mi  I! 

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;llshlIi;I;!S. 

li^ilallllliiSl 


113 


114  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

WHAT  TO  USE  AND  HOW  TO  APPLY  IT. 

[For  analysis  of  manures,  mammal  substances,  etc.,  used  on  tobacco, 
consult  Table  IV,  Pages  112  and  113.] 

Manure. — In  former  times,  the  excrement  of  do- 
mestic animals  was  the  only  plant  food  at  the  command 
of  the  grower ;  it  was  the  only  dependence,  and  its  use 
has  not  ceased,  for  it  is  still  largely  relied  upon,  although 
it  is  now  generally  used  in  conjunction  with  other  fer- 
tilizers, as  a  sort  of  foundation  upon  which  to  build.  It 
is  still  one  of  the  most  important  fertilizing  materials  at 
the  command  of  the  tobacco  grower,  and  it  is  more 
universally  used  than  any  other  single  substance.  It 
is  surely  entitled  to  receive  the  first  consideration.  But 
it  is  now  applied  with  an  understanding  of  its  deficiencies 
as  well  as  excellences,  and  often  for  different  purposes 
in  a  different  way  than  formerly. 

Barn  Manure  is  a  general  term  covering  the  mix- 
ture of  the  excrement  of  cattle,  horses  and  swine,  or 
that  of  cattle  and  swine  only,  or  that  of  cattle  only. 
Horse  manure,  when  kept  distinct  from  the  general 
mass,  is  separately  classed,  and  is  used  for  special  pur- 
poses. On  the  ordinary  farm,  manure  is  a  mixture  of 
the  excrement  of  the  leading  farm  animals.  There  are 
several  striking  characteristics  that  are  peculiarities  of 
barn  manure.  The  most  noticeable  of  these  is  the  large 
quantity  of  vegetable  matter  it  contains  ;  and  inciden- 
tally the  large  amount  of  water.  This  organic  matter  is 
the  greatest  peculiarity  of  manure,  and  from  it  certain 
effects  are  produced  in  the  soil  that  cannot  be  obtained 
from  any  other  fertilizer.  Another  peculiarity  is  that 
manure  is  a  complete  fertilizer,  it  contains  some  of 
every  element  that  is  required  by  growing  crops, — ni- 
trogen, phosphoric  acid  and  potash,  as  the  more  impor- 
tant plant  food  elements,  as  well  as  lime  and  magnesia. 
A  third  peculiarity  is  the  variability  of  the  quantities  of 
these  food  elements,  depending  upon  the  classes  of 


MANURES   AND   FERTILIZERS.  115 

animals  contributing  to  its  formation, — cattle,  horses 
and  swine, — some  one  or  two  of  which  may  be  absent ; 
upon  the  fodder  rations  employed  in  feeding  the  stock  ; 
upon  the  export  of  milk  from  the  farm ;  upon  the  quan- 
tity of  foreign  matter  incorporated  as  bedding,  or  ab- 
sorbents ;  upon  the  percentage  of  the  urine  and  dry 
excrement,  and  upon  the  way  in  which  it  has  been  pre- 
served, whether  properly  housed,  or  exposed  to  the 
leaching  of  rains  and  winds. 

The  Value  of  Manure  as  a  fertilizer  has  been  appre- 
ciated for  generations.  The  investigations  of  science 
have  not  displaced  its  standing,  or  curtailed  its  use. 
For  it  is  both  the  cheapest,  and,  all  things  considered, 
the  best  general  manure  at  hand.  It  will  always  be 


FIG.  13.     PLANT  BED  ARRANGED  TO    SHED  WATER  (Germany). 

used  whenever  the  soil  requires  fertilizing,  and  where 
live  stock  is  kept.  It  meets  the  wants  of  the  general 
farmer  better  than  any  other  fertilizer,  and  its  appli- 
cation is  understood,  and  its  general  effects  are  well 
known. 

The  feed  has  a  great  effect  upon  the  quality  of  the 
manure.  In  its  passage  through  the  animal,  the  food 
loses  what  is  taken  out  by  the  growth  of  the  animal  and 
by  the  milk.  A  good  deal  of  carbonaceous  matter, 
which  has  no  fertilizing  value,  is  also  burned  in  the  sys- 
tem to  supply  animal  heat,  but  all  the  rest  of  the  food 
passes  into  the  dung  or  urine.  The  digested  food  is 
voided  in  the  urine,  the  undigested  in  the  solid  manure. 
Of  the  two,  the  urine  is  the  more  valuable ;  it  is  also 


116  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

more  difficult  to  preserve.  Other  things  being  equal, 
the  richer  the  food,  the  richer  the  manure.  It  is  calcu- 
lated from  Table  IV  of  fertilizer  analyses,  that  a  ton  of 
average  manure  contains  about  1350  pounds  of  water, 
475  pounds  of  organic  matter  and  175  pounds  of  ash. 
The  latter  contains,  of  potash  eleven  pounds,  phosphoric 
acid  eight  pounds,  lime  six  pounds,  magnesia  four 
pounds  and  the  rest  is  sand,  carbonic  and  sulphuric 
acids,  iron,  alumina  and  soda.  The  organic  matter  con- 
tains about  ten  pounds  of  nitrogen.  Manure  from 
poorly  fed  stock,  especially  if  absorbents  are  not  used  on 
the  manure  pile,  if  exposed  to  the  weather,  may  not  con- 
tain half  these  quantities.  On  the  other  hand,  richly  fed 
stock,  carefully  bedded,  may  yield  manure  twice  as  rich 
in  plant  food  as  the  average  just  stated.  This  shows  the 
wide  variety  that  may  exist  in  manure. 

Comparing  the  actual  requirements  of  a  crop  of  to- 
bacco of  1800  pounds  cured  leaf  and  stalks,  with  the 
amount  of  plant  food  contained  in  barn  manure,  it  ap- 
pears that  15  tons  (or  about  four  cords)  of  average  ma- 
nure contain  the  154  pounds  of  nitrogen  required ;  60 
tons,  or  15  cords,  contain  the  488  pounds  of  potash, 
and  four  tons,  or  one  cord,  contain  the  26  pounds  of 
phosphoric  acid.  This  comparison  is  for  the  total  crop 
of  tobacco,  both  leaves  and  stalks,  but  if  the  stalks  are 
returned  to  the  land  on  which  they  were  grown,  the  ap- 
parent amount  of  manure  is  much  less.  To  supply  the 
80  pounds  of  nitrogen  removed  in  the  leaves  only,  10 
tons,  or  two  and  one-half  cords,  of  manure  appear  to  be 
all  that  is  necessary;  34  tons,  or  eight  and  one-half 
cords,  contain  the  291  pounds  of  potash  required,  while 
two  tons,  or  half  a  cord,  contain  the  12  pounds  of 
phosphoric  acid  that  is  necessary. 

But  every  tobacco  grower  knows  it  is  simply  impos- 
sible to  obtain  a  crop  of  1800  pounds  of  cured  leaf  from 
a  dressing  of  only  eight  and  one-half  cords  of  manure, 


MANURES   AND   FERTILIZERS.  117 

which  is  the  largest  quantity  that  the  figures  show  is 
necessary.  The  trouble  is,  that  the  fertilizing  elements 
of  manure  are  not  rapidly  set  free ;  their  action  is 
proverbially  slow,  and  from  this  slow  action  comes  the 
great  "lasting  power"  of  manure.  It  is  lasting  because 
it  cannot  be  quickly  used.  The  availability  of  the  ma- 
nure is  increased,  but  at  the  loss  of  considerable  of  the 
nitrogen,  by  rotting,  especially  when  assisted  by  work- 
ing over  the  pile,  breaking  up  the  lumps,  and  allowing 
the  air  free  access  to  all  parts  of  the  heap. 

But  eight  and  one-half  cords  of   manure,  however 
short  and  well  rotted  it  may  be,  will  not  satisfy  the  re- 


FIG.  14.  WOODEN  FRAME  FOR  PLANT  BED  (German). 

quirements  of  the  crop.  It  is  likely  that  not  more  than 
thirty  per  cent  of  its  fertilizing  elements  can  be  used  by 
tobacco  the  first  year,  although  this  percentage  is  gov- 
erned considerably  by  the  length  of  time  the  manure  re- 
mains in  the  soil  before  the  plants  are  set,  and  upon 
temperature  and  moisture.  Yet  the  longer  it  thus  re- 
mains in  the  soil,  the  more  likely  is  the  loss  of  nitrogen 
from  evaporation  and  leaching.  This  loss  is  again  offset 
by  the  uniform  distribution  of  what  nitrogen  is  not  thus 
lost,  and  the  more  available  form  in  which  it  exists. 

It  is,    therefore,    very  difficult  to   tell   how  much 
manure  to  use,  if  that,  alone,  is  to  be  depended  upon, 


118  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

not  because  the  quantity  of  plant  food  it  contains  is 
unknown,  but  because  of  the  impossibility  of  determining 
how  much  of  it  is  available  for  the  demands  of  the  rap- 
idly growing  tobacco  crop.  If  all  the  plant  food  is  not 
consumed  the  first  year,  especially  the  potash  and  lime, 
it  remains  in  the  soil  for  the  use  of  future  crops. 
Owing  to  the  very  slow  action  of  manure,  and  the  great 
demands  of  tobacco,  occasioned  by  the  very  rapid  growth 
of  the  plant,  it  is  difficult  to  bring  about  a  satisfactory 
state  of  fertility  from  manure  alone.  And  in  the  great 
majority  of  instances,  manure  is  no  longer  expected  to 
supply  the  entire  amount  of  plant  food,  but  is  supple- 
mented by  the  use  of  other  materials. 

Effect  of  Manure  on  Soil. — While  manure  is  thus  of 
questionable  dependence,  alone,  for  tobacco  food,  it 
possesses  certain  valuable  qualities  arising  from  the  large 
quantity  of  vegetable  matter  which  it  contains.  This 
vegetable  matter  is  beneficial  in  many  ways.  It  supplies 
a  stock  of  vegetable  mold,  or  humus,  that  is  often 
lacking  in  the  light  soils  on  which  tobacco  is  grown. 
This  humus  absorbs  moisture  and  heat,  and  retains  the 
nitrates  set  free  in  the  soil.  This  valuable  adjunct  to 
the  proper  state  of  fertility,  is  too  often  overlooked  by 
the  advocates  of  exclusive  chemical  fertilizers.  The 
mechanical  effect  of  manure  is  also  of  great  consequence, 
as  it  lightens  very  heavy  soils  by  making  them  open, 
porous  and  easy  of  cultivation,  while  it  supplies  moisture 
and  body  to  lands  that  are  naturally  of  too  light  a 
nature. 

Manure  also  promotes  a  quick  fermentation  that  is 
congenial  to  all  plants,  one  of  the  results  of  which  is  the 
conversion  of  nitrogen  from  a  raw  state  to  nitrates  that 
are  suitable  for  plant  consumption.  On  this  account  it 
is  used  with  benefit  in  conjunction  with  other  nitrogen 
supplies,  especially  as  it  also,  in  a  measure,  fixes  and 
retains  this  soluble  nitrogen  and  thus  prevents  waste. 


MANURES   AND   FERTILIZERS.  119 

When  used  with  other  quick-acting  fertilizers,  manure 
keeps  land  in  good  heart,  moist,  mellow  and  friable,  and 
in  a  condition  admirably  suited  to  the  best  develop- 
ment of  plant  roots.  In  addition  to  these  peculiarities, 
the  plant  food  which  manure  contains  is  of  great  conse- 
quence, especially  as  this  may  come  in  at  the  last  of  the 
season,  when  the  more  available  plant  food  of  the  chem- 
icals may  have  been  consumed.  The  lasting  quality  of 
manure,  which  makes  it  undesirable  as  an  exclusive 
dependence,  becomes  a  matter  of  importance  when  used 
with  other  quick-acting  fertilizers.  For  these  reasons  it 
is  important  to  use  a  liberal  dressing  of  manure. 

The  Best   Time  to  Apply  Manure  is   in   the   fall, 
plowing  it  under  slightly,  but  not  too  deep.     If  preferred, 


FIG.  15   PLANT  BED  FKAME  WITH  CLOTH  COVEK  PARTLY  RF.MOVED. 

the  dressing  can  be  applied  after  plowing,  when  it 
should  be  well  harrowed  in.  The  rain,  snows  and  frost 
of  fall,  winter  and  spring  diffuse  the  fertilizing  elements 
evenly  through  the  soil,  break  down  the  coarse,  woody 
matter  of  the  manure,  reducing  it  to  the  condition  of 
vegetable  mold  so  essential  as  an  absorbent  and  for  its 
powers  of  fixation  of  other  forms  of  plant  food.  From 
eight  to  ten  cords,  thirty-five  to  forty  loads,  of  manure 
should  be  thus  applied  when  other  fertilizers  are  to  fol- 
low. If  not  done  in  the  fall,  it  should  be  applied  as 
early  as  possible  in  the  spring,  that  the  mellowing 
influence  of  air  and  moisture  may  transform  it  from  a 
crude,  raw  state  to  one  congenial  to  the  most  favorable 
plant  growth.  If  coarse,  rank  manure  is  applied  late  in 


120  TOBACCO  LEAP. 

the  spring,  it  is  apt  to  promote  a  coarse-fibered  leaf, 
deficient  in  elasticity  and  texture. 

The  Amount  of  Plant  Food  to  Apply  depends  upon 
soil  fertility,  variety  to  be  grown  and  quality  and  quan- 
tity of  leaf  desired.  The  amounts  specified  in  this  chapter 
are  those  used  by  the  best  growers  in  the  Connecticut 
valley,  on  land  of  fairly  good  fertility.  These  men  want 
at  least  a  ton  of  cured  leaf  per  acre,  of  the  finest  quality, 
and  then  have  the  soil  left  rich  enough  to  yield  two  to 
four  tons  of  hay  per  acre  when  seeded  to  grass.  Such 
high  cultivation  is  not  yet  practiced  on  old  soils  in  other 
tobacco-growing  districts  of  America,  while  on  newer 
lands  it  is  not  necessary.  As  a  rule,  however,  the  average 


FIG.    16.     MOVABLE    FRAME    FOR    PLANT    BED,     WITH    CLOSE    FITTING 
CLOTH  COVER   PARTLY  REMOVED. 

planter  stands  more  in  danger  of  applying  too  little 
plant  food  than  too  much.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Poquonock  experiments  confirm  much  experience  to  the 
effect  that,  under  the  intense  cultivation  referred  to, 
more  plant  food  is  put  into  the  soil  than  is  really 
profitable. 

NITROGEN  FERTILIZERS. 

Their  Necessity. — It  has  been  shown  by  analyses  of 
the  plant,  and  by  experience  in  the  field,  that  tobacco 
requires  a  large  quantity  of  nitrogen.  It  does  not  seem 
to  possess  the  ability  to  get  its  nitrogen  from  the  air,  as 


MANURES  AND   FEKTILIZERS.  1 

do  clover  and  certain  leguminous  plants.  However, 
tobacco  must  get  its  nitrogen  from  the  soil.  This  ele- 
ment must,  therefore,  be  present  in  sufficient  quantity, 
and  also  in  a  thoroughly  available  form,  and  intimately 
diffused  throughout  the  soil,  owing  to  the  short  period  in 
which  the  plant  development  can  be  effected.  Nitrogen 
is  obtained  from  a  number  of  waste  products  and  chem- 
icals, prominent  among  which  are  cottonseed  meal, 
castor  pomace,  linseed  meal,  tankage,  dried  fish  scrap, 
dried  blood,  dried  animal  matter,  sulphate  of  ammonia, 
and  nitrate  of  soda.  Many  growers  use  these  and  other 
chemicals,  while  others  prefer  the  prepared  fertilizers  of 


FIG.  17.     PERMANENT    BED,  WITH    BOTH    GLASS    AND    CLOTH    FRAMES. 

commerce  that  are  rich  in  available  nitrogen,  and  are  pre- 
pared expressly  for  this  crop. 

Availability. — Tests  have  been  made  at  the  Con- 
necticut experiment  station  to  find  out  the  crop-pro- 
ducing power  of  nitrogen,  supplied  in  various  forms. 
This  was  determined,  not  by  chemical  analysis,  which 
practically  fails  to  throw  much  light  on  the  subject,  but 
by  the  quantity  of  nitrogen  which  the  crop  took  from 
the  fertilizer.  The  crops  were  grown  on  artificial  soil 
that  contained  only  traces  of  available  nitrogen,  but  all 
the  other  elements  of  plant  food  were  present  in  excess 
of  the  crop  needs.  Of  course,  a  single  crop  cannot  take 


122  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

all  the  nitrogen  from  the  soil,  even  when  it  is  supplied 
in  nitrate  of  soda,  which  is  the  most  soluble  form, 
because,  for  one  reason,  the  plant  roots  do  not  reach 
every  particle  of  the  soil.  Still  less  can  one  crop  take 
all  the  nitrogen  from  animal,  or  vegetable,  matters,  that 
decompose  but  slowly  in  the  soil.  In  any  case,  there- 
fore, more  or  less  of  the  nitrogen  contained  in  the  fer- 
tilizer fails  to  enter  the  crop.  The  tests  were  made  with 
oats  and  corn  in  147  pots,  and  resulted  for  the  two  years, 
as  follows  (Johnson,  Britton  and  Jenkins) : 

AVAILABILITY  OF  DIFFERENT  NITROGENOUS  MANURES. 

Column  A  shows  the  per  cent  of  the  total  nitrogen  furnished  the 
crops  of  '94-5  that  was  available— that  is,  was  actually  taken  up  by 
these  crops,  the  balance  of  the  nitrogen  being  left  in  the  soil.  In  Col- 
umn B,  the  amount  of  available  nitrogen  in  nitrate  of  soda  represents 
100,  and  the  figures  beneath  show  the  proportionate  availability  of 
nitrogen  from  the  other  fertilizers.  A  B 

Nitrate  of  soda,  68  100 

Castor  pomace,  No.  4545,  53  77 

Av.  of  castor  pomace,  Nos.  4545  and  4546,  50.5          74 

Cottonseed  meal,  49.5          72 

Castor  pomace,  No.  4546,  48  70 

Linseed  meal,  47  69 

Dried  blood,  46.5          68 

Dried  fish,  45  66 

Dissolved  leather,  44.5         64 

Horn  and  hoof,  42.5          62 

Tankage,  40.5         59 

Steamed  leather,  6.5          9 

Roasted  leather,  6.5  9 

Raw  leather,  1.5  2 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  nitrogen  of  castor  pomace 
No.  4545  has  shown  the  highest  availability  of  any  form 
of  organic  nitrogen.  The  other  sample  of  pomace  con- 
tained more  oil,  and  its  nitrogen  was  not  quite  as  avail- 
able. Cottonseed  meal,  linseed  meal  and  dried  blood 
were  about  equally  available,  thus  scientifically  confirm- 
ing the  experience  of  some  of  our  most  careful  tobacco 
growers,  who  have  found  linseed  meal  fully  as  quick  act- 
ing and  effective  as  a  fertilizer  as  either  cottonseed  meal 
or  dried  blood.  Dried  fish  comes  next  in  order,  but  it 


MANURES   AND   FERTILIZERS.  123 

will  be  surprising  to  many  that  tankage,  a  popular 
nitrogenous  fertilizer,  gave  up  only  forty  per  cent  of  its 
nitrogen  to  crops  in  two  years,  thus  standing  in  avail- 
ability at  fifty-nine,  compared  to  nitrate  of  soda  as  one 
hundred. 

Ammonia  should  not  be  confused  with  nitrogen. 
Seventeen  parts  of  ammonia  contain  fourteen  parts  of 
nitrogen.  Oftentimes  manufacturers  give  the  equiv- 
alent proportion  of  ammonia,  instead  of  the  actual 
amount  of  nitrogen,  for  the  same  reason  that  the  term 
phosphate  of  lime  is  used — because  it  looks  bigger. 
Expressed  in  decimals,  one  part  of  ammonia  contains 
0.8235  of  nitrogen.  Thus,  if  a  fertilizer  contains  five  per 
cent  (or  one  hundred  pounds  per  ton)  of  ammonia,  the 
nitrogen  is  only  4.12  per  cent,  or  eighty-two  and  one- 
third  pounds.  For  quick  calculation,  ammonia  can  be 
reckoned  to  contain  four-fifths  of  nitrogen,  and  by  de- 
ducting one-fifth  from  the  quantity  of  ammonia,  the 
amount  of  nitrogen  actually  present  will  be  reached 
quite  closely. 

Cottonseed  Meal. — Of  all  the  sources  of  nitrogen, 
the  most  popular  is  cottonseed  meal.  As  a  concentrated 
food  for  cattle  its  value  is  highly  appreciated,  and  it  is 
one  of  the  leading  meals  for  milch  cattle.  But,  apart 
from  the  tobacco  crop,  it  is  not  much  used  as  a  fertilizer 
at  the  North.  In  the  southern  States  cottonseed,  fer- 
mented, to  destroy  the  germ,  has  long  been  a  favorite 
dressing  for  cotton  fields,  especially  when  mixed  with 
plain  superphosphate  and  kainit.  Of  recent  years  the 
practice  of  selling  the  seed  to  oil  mills,  and  buying  back 
the  dry  meal,  has  gradually  spread,  and  in  sections 
adjacent  to  railroads  in  these  States,  large  quantities  of 
meal  are  annually  consumed  for  fertilizing  purposes. 

Iii  the  preparation  of  the  meal,  the  cottonseed, 
which  is  about  the  size  of  a  coffee  bean,  is  taken  as  it 
comes  from  the  gin,  covered  with  a  short  fuzz  of  cotton 


124  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

fiber.  In  this  shape  the  seed  resembles  the  small  cocoons 
in  which  the  larvae  of  many  insects  are  encased.  This 
downy  fuzz  is  removed  by  machinery,  the  lint  finding  a 
sale  for  certain  industrial  purposes.  The  seed  is  then 
almost  bare.  It  is  next  decorticated ;  that  is,  the  hard 
flinty  shell  is  split  open  and  then  sifted  from  the  pulp. 
The  pulp  is  rich  in  oil,  and  the  shell  contains  enough  fat 
to  make  it  readily  combustible.  The  shell,  or  hull,  is 
burned  for  fuel  under  the  engine  boilers,  sometimes 
being  the  only  fuel,  but  more  often  used  with  wood,  and 
occasionally  with  coal.  The  resulting  ash  is  called 
cottonhull  ash,  described  under  potash  fertilizers.  The 
pulp  of  the  seed  is  subjected  to  heavy  pressure,  which 
expresses  the  oil,  and  the  dry  cake  is  then  ground.  Its 
final  condition  is  that  of  a  fine  dry  powder  of  an  olive  or 
yellowish  green  cast.  Occasionally,  the  hulling  process 
is  omitted,  and  the  entire  seed  is  crushed  and  ground, 
the  result  being  undecorticated  meal.  This  product  is 
darker  than  the  usual  brand,  from  containing  fragments 
of  the  black  hulls.  Such  meal  is  inferior  to  the  normal, 
both  as  a  fertilizer  and  as  a  fodder.  The  shells,  or  hulls, 
are  much  used  in  the  South  for  feeding  cattle,  and  though 
it  may  appear  incredible,  cattle  fed  on  them  are  kept  in 
good  condition. 

Cottonseed  meal  is  admirably  suited  to  fertilizing 
purposes  ;  it  is  a  fine  dry  powder,  of  excellent  mechanical 
condition,  free  from  odor,  and  very  easily  applied.  It 
can  be  distributed  very  evenly,  which  insures  a  thorough 
distribution  through  the  soil,  and  owing  to  its  fine 
mechanical  condition,  it  is  easily  disintegrated,  and  the 
fertilizing  elements  soon  become  available.  It  is  not  so 
rapid  in  its  effects  as  the  nitrate  and  ammonia  salts,  but 
it  compares  favorably  with  any  animal  matter.  Chem- 
ically it  is  quite  uniform,  as  appears  from  the  analyses  in 
Table  IV,  Page  112.  A  clearer  idea  of  its  constituents 
is  obtained  from  the  following  more  complete  analysis  : 


MANURES   AND   FERTILIZERS.  125 

ANALYSIS  OF  COTTONSEED  MEAL  OF  STANDARD  QUALITY. 

Moisture,  10.50 

Organic  matter  (including  6.72  per  cent  of  nitrogen),  83.67 

Lime,  0.29 

Magnesia,  0.72 

Soda,  0.25 

Potash,  1.83 

Phosphoric  acid,  2.35 

Insoluble  matter,  0.39 

Total  ash,  5.83 

100.00 

Of  course  the  fertilizing  value  of  cottonseed  meal 
depends  mainly  upon  its  nitrogen,  but  potash  and  phos- 
phoric acid  are  also  important.  It  is  such  a  popular 
fertilizer  and  feed  that  in  years  of  scarcity  and  high 
prices,  cottonseed  meal  is  adulterated  by  adding  rice 
meal,  etc.,  or  by  grinding  the  hulls  into  it.  This  impure 
meal  contains  only  half  or  two-thirds  as  much  nitrog- 
enous matter  as  the  pure  article,  and,  if  bought  at  all, 
it  should  be  at  a  reduction  of  twenty-five  to  fifty  per 
cent  from  the  price  of  straight  goods.  The  meal  with 
hulls  is  dark  and  contains  hard,  black  fragments  of  hulls. 
As  the  Connecticut  station  truly  says,  "In  ordinary 
meal,  to  use  as  feed  or  fertilizer,  purchasers  should  re- 
quire decorticated  upland  cottonseed  meal,  containing  at 
least  six  and  one-half  per  cent  of  nitrogen,  unless  they  are 
willing  to  use  the  other  greatly  inferior  meal,  which  can- 
not be  economically  done  unless  it  can  be  got  for  a 
greatly  reduced  price."  Oftentimes  this  meal  ferments 
and  sours,  which  renders  it  unfit  for  cattle  food,  and  it 
is  then  sold  at  a  less  price.  This  damaged  meal  is 
almost,  if  not  quite,  as  good  for  fertilizing  purposes  as 
the  sweet  meal,  and  a  considerable  saving  in  first  cost  is 
made  by  using  it. 

This  meal  is  such  an  excellent  cattle  food  that  it  is 
almost  a  waste  to  use  it  directly  as  a  fertilizer,  especially 
as  by  far  the  most  of  its  fertilizing  elements  are  found 
in  the  manure,  after  feeding.  For  general  farm  pur- 


126  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

poses,  it  is  more  economical  to  feed  it ;  but  tobacco  is  an 
exceptional  crop,  and  this  meal  bas  been  found  so  con- 
genial to  this  plant  that  it  cannot  be  considered  wasteful 
to  use  it  directly.  And  laying  aside  its  feeding  value, 
and  considering  it  solely  as  a  fertilizer  for  direct  appli- 
cation, it  is  one  of  the  most  economical  fertilizers. 

Cottonseed  meal,  however,  is  not  a  very  rapid  ferti- 
lizer, and  it  should  be  applied  as  long  as  possible  before 
the  setting  of  the  plants,  to  allow  it  to  decompose.  When 
the  land  has  been  dressed  with  ten  cords  of  manure  in 
the  fall,  one  thousand  pounds  of  meal  should  be  broad- 
casted after  plowing  in  the  spring,  and  gently  harrowed 
in.  This  should  be  done  a  month  or  six  weeks  before 
the  plants  are  set,  by  which  time  it  will  be  well  diffused 
throughout  the  soil,  especially  if  moist  weather  has  pre- 
vailed. When  no  manure  is  used,  one  ton  of  meal 
should  be  applied.  Some  growers  apply  it  in  the  fall, 
but  this  is  not  a  general  custom,  although  it  is  a  good 
plan  to  follow.  At  Poquonock,  1500  pounds  of  cotton- 
seed meal  per  acre,  with  1500  pounds  of  cottonhull  ash, 
made  an  average  crop  of  1611  pounds  per  acre,  contain- 
ing 956  pounds  wrappers  ;  when  the  meal  was  increased 
to  2500  pounds,  the  total  crop  was  not  much  larger,  but 
it  yielded  1065  pounds  wrappers ;  and  3000  pounds  of 
meal  made  an  average  crop  of  1835  pounds  of  cured  leaf 
per  acre,  containing  1226  pounds  of  wrappers ;  the  ash 
used  was  the  same  in  all  cases. 

Linseed  or  Flaxseed  Meal  is  also  a  popular  ferti- 
lizer in  seasons  when,  because  of  its  abundance,  it  can  be 
sold  at  as  low,  or  lower,  a  price  as  cottonseed  meal.  It 
is  not  quite  so  rich  in  plant  food  as  cottonseed  meal,  but 
the  difference  is  slight.  The  new  process  linseed  meal 
contains  only  about  three  per  cent  of  fat  or  oil,  while 
old  process  contains  twice  as  much.  At  Poquonock, 
the  tests  made  were  with  new  process  only,  and  results 
in  quantity  and  quality  of  leaf  from  a  moderate  applica- 


MANURES  AND   FERTILIZERS.  127 

tion  are  such  that  this  meal  is  now  largely  employed  for 
tobacco.  About  a  ton  per  acre  is  used,  with  potash  salts 
or  ashes.  To  what  extent  the  increased  oil  or  fat  in  old 
process  meal  would  injure  or  benefit  leaf  tobacco  has  not 
yet  been  determined. 

Other  Meals  rich  in  nitrogen  might  be  used  on  to- 
bacco when  their  price  permitted,  but  in  the  absence  of 
experiments  to  show  their  effect,  they  should  first  be 
tried  on  a  small  scale.  Gluten  meal  contains  five  per 
cent  of  nitrogen,  pea  meal  three  per  cent,  wheat  bran 
two  to  three  per  cent. 

Castor  Pomace. — This  article  is  used  to  some  extent 
as  a  tobacco  fertilizer,  although  a  prejudice  exists 
against  it  among  some  cigar  manufacturers,  as  the  claim 
is  made  that  the  tobacco  does  not  come  out  of  the  sweat 
in  good  shape.  This  trouble  arises  from  carelessness  in 
application,  and  not  from  any  inherent  peculiarity  of  the 
pomace.  The  castor  bean  is  grown  quite  extensively  in 
this  country.  The  oil  is  expressed  by  pressure  and  the 
crushed  beans  are  known  as  castor  pomace.  It  is  a 
coarse,  lumpy  material,  poisonous  as  a  food,  and  having 
an  offensive  odor.  Because  of  its  coarse  condition,  it  is 
difficult  to  spread  evenly,  and  it  should  always  be  ap- 
plied in  the  fall  and  gently  harrowed  in.  By  spring  it 
will  be  brought  into  a  suitable  condition  for  tobacco 
growing.  If  its  application  is  delayed  until  spring,  this 
process  of  reduction  cannot  be  accomplished  before  the 
plants  are  demanding  the  food.  It  is,  however,  used 
with  excellent  results  applied  in  spring.  Its  use  in  a 
fresh,  raw  state  produces  bad  results,  but  when  applied 
at  the  proper  season  very  favorable  results  are  derived 
from  it. 

Castor  pomace  is  much  more  difficult  to  manage 
than  cottonseed  meal  and  the  latter  is  rightfully  much 
more  popular.  Castor  pomace  is  liable  to  vary  in  compo- 
sition, and  should  be  bought  on  a  guarantee  of  five  or  five 


128  TOBACCO    LEAF. 

and  one-fifth  per  cent  nitrogen.  The  large  amount  of 
organic  matter  it  contains  gives  it  more  value  than  nitro- 
gen salts,  especially  for  light  soils.  As  it  contains  about 
one-fourth  less  nitrogen  than  cottonseed  meal,  the  ap- 
plication should  be  correspondingly  larger,  or  2500 
pounds  per  acre  where  no  manure  is  used  and  1250 
when  used  with  manure.  When  manure  cannot  be  ob- 
tained, castor  pomace  makes  a  fairly  good  substitute, — 
perhaps  the  best  the  market  affords,  as  its  organic  mat- 
ter acts  similarly  to  that  of  manure.  At  Poquonock, 
leaf  grown  on  this  pomace  compared  favorably  in  quan- 
tity and  quality  with  crops  grown  on  other  fertilizers. 

Tankage  is  the  name  applied  to  the  residue  of  meat 
entrails,  fine  bone,  etc.,  that  settle  at  the  bottom  of  the 
large  tanks  in  which  such  refuse  is  steamed,  or  rendered, 
for  extracting  fat.  When  the  percentage  of  bone  runs 
large  it  is  called  cracklings.  It  is  a  dry  powder  varying 
considerably  in  mechanical  condition,  the  meat  generally 
being  in  a  very  finely  pulverized  condition,  while  much 
of  the  bone  is  considerably  coarser.  Fertilizer  manufac- 
turers use  this  material  quite  largely,  and  they  generally 
make  a  distinction  between  beef  and  pork  tankage.  The 
latter  contains  considerable  fat,  which  retards  decom- 
position, and  it  is  held  in  less  esteem  than  beef  tankage, 
which  is  almost  entirely  free  from  fat.  This  distinction 
is  not  understood  by  farmers  and  they  are  probably  sup- 
plied with  the  less  marketable  pork  tankage. 

The  quantity  of  water  in  tankage  varies  consid- 
erably, ranging  from  ten  to  thirty  per  cent,  and  the 
amount  of  bone  also  varies.  Of  course  the  larger  the 
percentage  of  water,  the  smaller  is  the  percentage  of 
nitrogen  ;  when  bone  is  largely  present  the  nitrogen  runs 
low.  It  is  generally  sold  on  a  guaranteed  analysis,  how- 
ever, and  the  price  varies  according  to  the  contents. 
The  average  amount  of  water  is  twelve  per  cent ;  nitro- 
gen ranges  from  four  to  eight  per  cent,  averaging  about 


MANURES   AND   FERTILIZERS.  129 

six  per  cent,  while  phosphoric  acid  ranges  from  seven  to 
eighteen  per  cent,  averaging  eleven  per  cent.  It  is  cus- 
tomary to  sell  the  phosphoric  acid  as  bone  phosphate  of 
lime,  which  runs  much  larger  than  the  actual  phosphoric 
acid,  and  farmers  often  confuse  the  term,  thinking  they 
are  the  same.  Phosphoric  acid  is  combined  with  lime 
in  the  ratio  of  one  to  2.183;  that  is,  one  per  cent  of 
phosphoric  acid  is  equivalent  to  2.183  of  bone  phos- 
phate of  lime.  And  when  tankage  contains  eleven  per 
cent  of  phosphoric  acid  it  contains  twenty-four  per  cent 
of  bone  phosphate.  The  term  phosphate  of  lime  looks 
big  and  is  often  used  by  manufacturers  to  describe  the 
phosphoric  acid  present  in  commercial  fertilizers,  thereby 
conveying  the  impression  that  a  much  larger  quantity  of 
phosphoric  acid  is  contained  than  is  actually  present. 
It  is  one  of  the  "tricks  of  the  trade."  A  similar  con- 
fusion exists  between  nitrogen  and  ammonia,  as  explained 
on  Page  123. 

When  tankage  runs  largely  to  bone,  there  is  little 
difference  between  it  and  ordinary  bone  meal.  For  to- 
bacco, the  presence  of  bone  in  tankage  is  of  little  ad- 
vantage, since  the  crop  requires  but  a  small  quantity  of 
that  element.  In  selecting  tankage  for  this  crop,  care 
should  be  taken  to  choose  that  which  runs  high  in 
nitrogen  and  low  in  phosphate.  The  presence  of  the 
bone  increases  the  selling  price,  especially  when  a  fair 
proportion  of  nitrogen  is  present,  so  that  tankage  cannot 
be  considered  an  economical  nitrogen  supply,  since  it 
requires  the  purchase  of  a  large  quantity  of  unnecessary 
bone.  For  other  crops,  however,  where  phosphoric  acid 
is  needed,  it  is  a  good  purchase, — a  better  one  than  bone. 

The  meat  of  tankage  is  in  a  very  fine  state  and  is 
easily  disintegrated  in  the  soil.  It  has  been  supposed 
to  be  more  readily  available  for  plant  food  than  the 
organic  matter  of  cottonseed  meal  and  castor  pomace-, 
as  animal  matter  appears  to  ferment  and  disintegrate 


130  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

more  quickly  than  vegetable  matter,  but  this  is  now 
doubted.  Tankage  should  be  applied  broadcast  in  the 
spring  and  harrowed  in.  Tankage  and  all  animal 
fertilizers  give  the  best  results  when  used  with  manure, 
for  the  latter  is  rich  in  organic  matter  while  meat  is 
deficient  in  it. 

Dried  Blood. — A  better  article  than  tankage,  be- 
cause of  its  more  uniform  analysis,  is  dried  blood.  There 
are  several  grades  of  blood,  since  it  is  often  mixed  with 
tankage,  when  it  is  called  blood  and  meat,  but  in  the 
wholesale  fertilizer  trade,  there  are  but  two  grades,  the 
soft  red  blood  and  black  blood.  Both  of  these  products 
arise  from  the  coagulation  of  liquid  blood  by  steam. 
Under  this  heat  the  solid  portion  settles  and  the  liquid 
is  drawn  off.  The  residue  is  then  dried.  If  too  much 
heat  is  used  in  drying,  the  blood  solidifies  into  a  solid 
black  mass,  hard  and  brittle.  This,  when  ground, 
separates  into  small,  black,  glittering  particles,  having 
a  gritty  feeling,  and  constitutes  the  black  blood  of  com- 
merce. A  lesser  application  of  heat  prevents  the  melt- 
ing of  the  blood,  and  it  comes  out  as  a  red  powder,  soft 
to  the  touch.  It  is  difficult  to  dry  this  blood  success- 
fully, and  dried  meat  or  tankage  is  frequently  added  to 
facilitate  the  drying,  which  makes  the  blood  and  meat 
so  generally  sold,  and  which  more  properly  should  be 
classed  as  tankage. 

Black  and  red  blood  differ  materially  in  their  action. 
The  latter  has  acquired  quite  an  insoluble  condition  that 
detracts  from  its  agricultural  value.  It  runs  from 
twelve  and  one-half  to  fourteen  and  one-half  per  cent  of 
nitrogen.  Eed  blood  contains  less,  only  about  ten  per 
cent  or  eleven  per  cent  of  nitrogen,  but  it  is  a  beautiful 
nitrogen  preparation  and  admirably  suited  for  fertilizing 
purposes,  being  soluble,  while  not  too  much  so.  It  is, 
undoubtedly,  the  best  animal  ammoniate.  Unfor- 
tunately, however,  it  rarely  gets  into  farmers'  hands,  for 


MANURES   AND   FERTILIZERS.  131 

fertilizer  manufacturers  appreciate  its  value  and  take  all 
that  is  produced.  It  is  sold  in  the  trade  by  the  unit  of 
ammonia.  A  unit  is  one  per  cent.  When  ammonia  is 
worth  $2. 75  per  unit,  the  price  of  blood  analyzing  12  per 
cent  ammonia  is  12  times  $2. 75,  or  $33  per  ton. 

Dried  Fish. — The  leading  animal  ammoniate,  the 
one  most  largely  used  by  both  manufacturers  and 
farmers,  is  dried  fish.  This  is  obtained  in  very  large 
quantities  from  the  menhaden  oil  factories  along  the 
Atlantic  coast.  The  menhaden,  or  "  porgies  "  are  caught 
for  oil.  They  are  steamed  in  large  vats  until  reduced  to 
a  churn,  and  when  this  is  settled  the  oil  and  water  is 
drawn  off  and  the  churn  is  heavily  pressed,  to  express  all 
remaining  oil.  It  is  then  called  wet  scrap  and  contains 
about  50  per  cent  of  water.  This  is  then  dried,  gener- 
ally by  the  sun,  the  result  being  dry  scrap.  This  con- 
tains about  10  or  12  per  cent  of  water  and  from  8  to  9 
per  cent  of  nitrogen,  or  about  10  per  cent  of  ammonia. 
It  also  contains  about  8  per  cent  of  phosphoric  acid. 
The  percentage  of  nitrogen  varies  according  to  the  quan- 
tity of  water  contained  in  the  scrap,  which  is  sometimes 
quite  large,  even  as  much  as  20  per  cent  in  dry  scrap. 
This  variation  is  caused  by  defective  drying,  the  effect- 
iveness of  which  is  largely  governed  by  the  weather.  In 
some  cases  scrap  is  dried  artificially,  but  this  is  not  very 
general. 

Dry  scrap  is  sifted  to  make  it  uniform,  and  the 
result  is  a  light,  dry  powder,  having  flaky  particles. 
The  finest  dust  is  called  fish  guano.  This  runs  some- 
what higher  in  nitrogen  and  is  more  valuable,  because 
its  fine  mechanical  condition  renders  decomposition  in 
the  soil  very  easy.  Fish  is  classed  under  four  heads, 
wet  scrap,  dry  scrap,  fish  guano  and  ground  fish ;  the 
distinction  between  the  last  two  being  slight  and  diffi- 
cult to  determine.  The  supply  of  scrap  varies  from 
year  to  year,  according  to  the  quantities  caught ;  some 


132 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


seasons  the  fish  are  very  plenty,  while  in  others  they  are 
scarce.  In  recent  years,  manufacturers  have  become 
rather  more  independent  of  the  fish  catch,  owing  to  the 
increased  consumption  of  nitrate  of  soda.  While  men- 
haden is  by  far  the  leading  source  of  fish  scrap,  there 
are  some  fish  preparations  from  the  cod  fisheries  and 
from  the  sardine  or  herring  fisheries.  The  supply  from 
these  sources  is  comparatively  small,  and  they  are  not  so 
well  prepared  for  fertilizing  pur- 
poses. Pure  dry  fish  scrap  is  an 
excellent  source  of  nitrogen. 
Its  best  results  are  obtained  on 
rather  light  land,  as  the  more 
compact  nature  of  heavy  soils, 
together  with  the  larger  quan- 
tity of  water  contained  in  such, 
apparently  retards  the  disinte- 
gration of  the  scrap.  It  should 


FIG.  18.   a  SHOWS  A  METHOD  OF  FIXING  THE  CLOTH  SO  IT  WILL  LAST 
FOR  TEARS;  6,  ITS  APPLICATION  TO  THE  PLANT  BED. 

not  be  used  in  the  hill,  but  broadcast  only.  It  is  less 
to  be  desired  than  dried  blood,  but  it  is  far  more  easily 
obtained  in  the  market,  and  it  gives  excellent  results. 
Care  should  be  taken  to  distribute  it  evenly,  for  if  it 
accumulates  in  spots,  an  excessive  fermentation  results 
that  is  distributed  to  growing  plants.  Six  hundred 
pounds  of  scrap  can  be  used  in  place  of  1,000  pounds  of 
cottonseed  meal,  or  1250  pounds  of  castor  pomace.  As 


MANURES  AND  FERTILIZERS.  133 

in  the  case  of  tankage,  it  is  best  when  applied  with 
manure,  because  of  its  lack  of  organic  matter.  It  need 
not  be  applied  in  the  fall,  for  if  broadcasted  and  har- 
rowed in  when  the  ground  is  being  prepared  in  the  early 
spring,  it  will  become  available  for  the  crop  by  the 
time  the  plants  are  set. 

Other  Nitrogenous  Substances. — In  addition  to  these 
flesh  preparations,  there  are  others  known  as  azontine, 
ammonite,  etc.  These  are  simply  preparations  of  dried 
meat,  but  are  of  higher  grade  than  tankage  and  are 
more  uniform  in  composition.  They  can  be  classified 
with  dried  blood  and  similarly  handled. 

NITROGEN   SALTS. 

Beside  the  organic  nitrogen  supplies,  both  animal 
and  vegetable,  described  in  the  previous  pages,  an 
entirely  different  class  exists,  known  as  "salts."  These 
salts  are  crystallized  salts  of  nitric  acid  or  ammonia. 
They  are  perfectly  soluble  in  water,  and  the  nitrogen  is 
in  an  immediately  available  condition.  They  contain 
no  organic  matter  of  any  kind,  but  are  practically  pure 
chemicals.  They  are  held  in  very  high  esteem  for  all 
crops,  and  are  of  special  value  for  tobacco,  but  to  obtain 
the  best  results  they  should  be  used  on  soils  naturally 
rich  in  organic  matter,  or  made  so  artificially  by  the  use 
of  manure,  castor  pomace,  muck,  or  compost. 

There  is  nothing  gained  in  applying  these  chemicals 
much  in  advance  of  the  crop,  for  they  are  perfectly 
available  as  plant  food  whenever  applied.  In  this  they 
differ  from  all  the  fertilizing  materials  previously  con- 
sidered. The  nitrogen  in  all  animal  and  vegetable  mat- 
ter is  partly  inert  and  cannot  be  set  free  until  such 
matter  is  disintegrated  by  fermentation.  All  these  or- 
ganic matters,  therefore,  require  time,  in  which  this 
fermentation  may  go  on,  before  the  nitrogen  contained 
in  them  can  be  utilized  by  the  plant.  But  experience 


134  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

shows  that,  applied  as  previously  directed,  these  organic 
manures  give  up  nitrogen  to  the  crop  as  it  can  be  used. 
The  value  of  nitrates  is  modified  because  nitrogen  in 
this  very  soluble  form  is  so  exposed  to  leaching.  Jenkins 
has  "seen  a  heavy  rain  leach  away  the  whole  nitrogen 
supply  of  a  crop  where  it  was  in  the  form  of  nitrates." 
It  could  not  do  this  with  organic  forms. 

The  consumption  of  tthese  nitrogen  salts,  especially 
of  nitrate  of  soda,  is  steadily  increasing.  There  are 
three  of  these  crystalline  salts  :  Nitrate  of  potash,  which 
is  made  by  the  union  of  nitric  acid  and  potash  ;  sulphate 
of  ammonia,  which  is  sulphuric  acid  combined  with 
ammonia,  and  nitrate  of  soda,  a  combination  of  nitric 
acid  and  soda.  Of  these,  the  first,  nitrate  of  potash,  is 
rarely  used  as  a  fertilizer.  It  is  largely  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  gun  powder,  and  commands  such  a  price 
as  to  prevent  its  use  for  fertilizing  purposes.  It  would 
seem  to  be  admirably  adapted  to  tobacco  culture,  owing 
to  its  large  percentage  of  both  nitrogen  and  potash, 
elements  especially  demanded  by  this  crop,  and  it  should 
be  tried  experimentally.  Nitrate  of  potash  contains 
about  14  per  cent  of  nitrogen  and  45  per  cent  of  actual 
potash. 

Sulphate  of  Ammonia. — This  valuable  salt  is  ob- 
tained in  large  quantities  as  a  by-product  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  illuminating  gas.  It  is  a  white  crystalline 
salt  having  a  slightly  bluish  tinge  and  may  have  a  faint 
odor  of  ammonia,  but  it  usually  is  odorless.  Its  value 
as  an  agricultural  salt  has  long  been  known,  and  it  is 
largely  used  for  manurial  purposes,  both  in  this  country 
and  Europe.  It  is  very  uniform  in  composition,  and  is 
sold  under  a  guaranteed  analysis  of  twenty-four  to 
twenty-five  per  cent  of  ammonia,  which  is  the  same  as 
twenty  to  twenty  and  one-half  per  cent  of  nitrogen. 
The  percentage  of  free  water  is  very  small,  rarely  over 
one  per  cent.  It  is  freely  soluble  in  water,  and  the 


MANURES  AND   FERTILIZERS.  135 

liquid  sulphate  of  ammonia  is  freely  separated  into  com- 
pounds available  for  plant  food.  It  is  one  of  the  quickest 
ammoniates  in  its  effects  and  is  highly  prized  for  its 
great  forcing  power.  It  is  especially  valuable  for  hasten- 
ing the  crop  if  for  any  reason  it  becomes  retarded. 

Owing  to  its  very  soluble  condition,  sulphate  of  am- 
monia should  be  applied  just  before  setting  the  plants, 
at  the  time  of  the  last  harrowing.  If  applied  earlier 
there  is  a  possibility  of  loss  through  leaching,  especially 
on  light  soils.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  per  acre 
takes  the  place  of  1,000  pounds  of  cottonseed  meal  or 
of  600  pounds  of  dry  fish  scrap.  The  better  way  to  use 
it  is  to  apply  in  conjunction  with  manure,  although  on 
any  but  very  light  soils  it  will  produce  favorable  results 
alone,  until  the  soil  becomes  depleted  of  organic  matter 
through  continuous  cultivation.  The  best  results  are 
obtained  by  using  a  small  quantity  of  sulphate  of  am- 
monia with  manure  and  organic  ammoniates,  for  the 
ammonia  salt  gives  a  quick  start  to  the  young  plants, 
while  the  nitrogen  from  the  other  materials  comes  in 
for  the  later  development  of  the  crop.  Sulphate  of 
ammonia  contains  a  large  quantity  of  sulphuric  acid, 
which  is  a  decided  objection,  and  the  results  of  its  use  in 
Connecticut  are  such  as  to  make  it  unpopular  with  the 
best  growers.  Care  is  necessary  that  the  rootlets  do  not 
come  into  too  close  contact  with  it. 

Nitrate  of  Soda. — Much  that  has  been  said  of  sul- 
phate of  ammonia  applies  with  equal  force  to  this  salt, 
which  is  preferred  to  the  sulphate  because  free  of  sul- 
phuric acid.  It  is  perfectly  soluble  and  should  be  ap- 
plied in  the  manner  indicated  for  ammonia,  and  treated 
in  all  respects  the  same.  It  is  a  crystalline  salt  of  some- 
what pinkish  cast,  slightly  deliquescent  (capable  of 
absorbing  moisture),  and  is  imported  in  enormous  quan- 
tities for  manurial  purposes,  as  well  as  for  other  indus- 
trial uses.  It  exists  in  large  beds  in  certain  provinces  of 


136  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

Chili,  and  is  often  called  Chili  saltpeter.  It  is  clarified 
before  shipment,  and  is  very  uniform  in  composition, 
containing  about  sixteen  per  cent  of  nitrogen.  It  is  a 
combination  of  nitric  acid  with  soda. 

The  use  of  nitrate  of  soda  upon  tobacco  has  not 
become  general  as  yet,  and  possibly  its  large  percentage 
of  soda  may  have  some  qualifying  influence  on  the  crop  ; 
more  extended  experiments  are  necessary  to  determine 
this  point.  A  small  quantity  of  it,  however,  can  be  used 
with  safety,  and,  like  sulphate  of  ammonia,  it  has  great 
value  in  giving  the  young  plants  a  vigorous  growth.  It 
has  been  customary  to  apply  half  the  nitrate  at  time  of 
planting,  or  at  first  cultivating,  and  the  balance  at  sec- 
ond cultivating.  At  Poquonock  the  application  all  at 
once,  between  rows,  at  first  cultivating,  gave  best 
results. 

POTASH   FERTILIZATION. 

The  Necessity  of  Potash  cannot  be  too  strongly 
reiterated.  We  have  shown  in  Chapter  V  that  tobacco 
draws  more  heavily  upon  the  soil's  potash  than  upon  any 
other  single  element.  It  also  requires  a  larger  amount 
of  potash  than  does  any  other  crop.  Tobacco  is  a  potash 
feeder  to  a  remarkable  extent.  It  is  equally  important 
to  note  that  analyses  of  soils  and  practical  experience 
unite  in  proving  that  in  many  localities  where  tobacco  is 
grown,  the  land  is  deficient  in  potash.  This  is  quite 
generally  true  of  all  tobacco  lands  that  have  not  been 
well  manured.  It  is  also  true  of  many  other  soils. 
Every  farmer  can  readily  test  his  own  soil  for  potash,  by 
planting  tobacco  or  potatoes  in  plots  without  any 
potash,  and  with  potash  in  varying  quantities,  moderate 
amounts  of  nitrogen  and  phosphoric  acid  being  fur- 
nished in  all  the  plots.  If  it  appears  that  the  absence  of 
potash  reduces  the  crop,  and  that  its  presence  increases 
the  yield,  the  imperative  necessity  of  potash  is  proved. 


MANURES  AND  FERTILIZERS.  137 

The  table  of  manurial  analyses  in  Appendix  shows 
how  deficient  ordinary  stable  manure  is  in  potash,  and 
how  few  substances  furnish  it  in  liberal  proportion. 
Thus  the  deficiency  of  potash,  both  in  the  soil  and  in 
ordinary  manurial  substances,  must  be  made  good.  But 
while  potash  is  of  paramount  importance  to  the  tobacco 
plant,  great  care  must  be  exercised  to  exclude  all  con- 
tamination with  chlorine.  Potash  combines  freely  with 
chlorine,  and  in  the  muriate  of  potash  is  wholly  present ; 
common  salt  (chloride  of  soda)  is  also  frequently  found 
in  many  potash  salts.  But  the  demand  for  a  potash  salt 
free  from  this  defect  has  caused  the  introduction  of  high 
grade  sulphates  that  are  practically  free  from  chlorine. 

Potash  Salts  are  obtained  from  the  potash  mines  at 
Stassfurt,  Germany,  and  are  largely  used  for  manurial 
purposes,  both  in  Europe  and  this  country.  The  native 
salt  is  a  mixture  of  sulphate  and  muriate  of  potash  with 
common  salt,  and  is  clarified  after  mining.  Kainit,  the 
lowest  grade  sulphate,  contains  25  per  cent  of  sulphate 
of  potash  (equal  to  12  per  cent  actual  potash),  and  60 
per  cent  of  common  salt,  and  should  never  be  used  for 
tobacco  because  of  this  last  defect.  Muriate  of  potash, 
80  per  cent  purity,  contains  50  per  cent  actual  potash, 
and  about  15  per  cent  common  salt,  and  for  this  last 
reason  is  eschewed  by  tobacco  growers.  The«  first  salt 
satisfactory  for  tobacco  culture  was  the  double  sulphate 
of  potash  and  magnesia,  or  double-manure-salt,  and  it 
is  still  used  with  good  results.  As  its  name  implies, 
toe  sulphuric  acid  is  combined  with  potash  and  mag- 
nesia, and  also  with  soda  to  some  extent ;  its  analysis 
is  given  in  Table  IV,  Page  112.  But  it  contains  so 
much  chlorine  that  it  is  not  now  approved  for  fine 
wrappers,  and  the  Poquonock  results  are  against  it. 
Whether  its  magnesia  is  of  much  use  is  also  a  question. 
Double  manure  salt  is  usually  sold  on  a  guarantee  of 
48  to  50  per  cent  sulphate  of  potash  (equal  to  about  25 


138  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

per  cent  actual  potash),  and  lately  the  further  guarantee 
"less  than  two  and  one-half  percent  chlorine  "  is  also 
given. 

The  high  grade  sulphate  now  imported  is  more 
desirable,  since  it  contains  no  chlorine  at  all,  is  more 
concentrated  and,  moreover,  comes  in  a  fine,  mealy  con- 
dition. It  is  guaranteed  to  contain  from  96  to  98  per 
cent  sulphate  of  potash.  This  is  equivalent  to  50  or  51 
per  cent  actual  potash,  or  just  about  the  same  as  is 
found  in  muriate  of  potash  of  80  per  cent  muriate. 
The  two  to  four  per  cent  of  other  matter  in  this  high 
grade  sulphate  is  mainly  composed  of  water.  This  is 
an  admirable  salt  for  the  tobacco  crop  and  should  be 
used  extensively. 

How  to  Apply  Potash  Salts. — In  Germany  the  usual 
custom  is  to  apply  potash  salts  in  the  fall  upon  all  but 
very  light  land.  In  this  country,  spring  applications  are 
exclusively  followed,  and  as  no  great  additional  benefit 
can  be  expected  from  fall  applications,  the  present  cus- 
tom will  probably  continue.  To  raise  a  first-class  crop 
of  tobacco  there  should  be  at  least  300  pounds  of  actual 
potash  in  the  soil  available  for  plant  use.  To  furnish 
this  it  is  necessary  to  apply  500  pounds  of  high  grade 
sulphate,  or  1000  pounds  of  double  sulphate,  per  acre. 
In  addition  to  this  is  the  potash  obtained  from  cotton- 
seed meal,  manure,  stems  or  other  articles.  The  same 
rule  advanced  in  applying  nitrogen, — the  necessity  of  a 
much  larger  supply  than  the  plant  actually  requires, — 
holds  good  in  furnishing  potash,  though  in  a  less  degree. 
Potash  does  not  leach,  and  what  is  applied  remains 
permanently  in  the  soil,  but  the  trouble  is  that  it  is 
often  too  permanent.  It  has  a  tendency  to  form  insol- 
uble compounds,  and  when  these  are  formed  a  certain 
per  cent  of  potash  becomes  locked  up  and  lost  to  the 
plant.  Potash,  however,  has  no  forcing  effect,  and  the 
only  reason  for  an  excess  is  to  avoid  the  possibility  of  a 


MANURES   AND    FERTILIZERS. 


139 


deficiency,  either  from  uneven  distribution  or  from  the 
formation  of  insoluble  compounds.  The  salts  should  be 
applied  broadcast,  in  the  spring,  at  the  time  of  the  first 
harrowing. 

Cottonhull  Ash  is  extremely  popular  as  a  fertilizer, 
especially  with  scientific  growers  of  prime  tobacco  for 
cigar  wrappers.  This  is  mainly  due  to  the  large  quan- 
tity of  potash  the  ash  contains,  and  also  to  the  fact  that 
this  potash  is  soluble.  It  also  contains  a  goodly  amount 
of  magnesia,  as  well  as  lime  and  phosphoric  acid;  the 
two  former  elements  being  as  essential  for  this  crop  as 
is  the  potash  or  the  phosphoric  acid.  It  is  quite  prob- 
able, too,  that  the  soluble  carbolic  acid  in  cottonhull  ash 
adds  to  its  excellent  effect  on  the  soil.  The  following 
are  complete  analyses  of  a  fair  average  sample  of  cotton- 
hull  ash,  made  by  Jenkins  at  Connecticut  station,  and 
by  Goessman  at  Massachusetts  station  : 


Connecticut. 

Mass. 

Sol.  in 
water. 

Insol.  in 
water. 

Total. 

Potash, 

25.20 

2.65 

27.85 

28.2 

Soda, 

.50 

.80 

1.30 

? 

Lime, 

none 

5.23 

5.23 

10.5 

Magnesia, 
Oxide  of  iron  and  alumina, 

.20 
none 

11.04 
1.64 

11.24 
1.64 

15.3 
? 

Phosphoric  acid, 
Sulphuric  acid, 

1.52 
2.32 

8.29 
0.09 

9.81 
2.41 

8.1 
? 

Carbonic  acid, 

8.28 

3.31 

11.59 

? 

Chlorine, 

.21 

none 

.21 

? 

Silica  and  sand, 

.16 

9.34 

9.50 

10.6 

Water  and  charcoal, 

19.22 

17.2 

38.39 

42.39 

100.00 

Cottonhull  ash  varies  widely  in  composition.  Dif- 
ferent samples  contain  from  10  to  40  per  cent  potash, 
average  23  per  cent ;  phosphoric  acid  3  to  14  per  cent, 
average  8  per  cent.  Hence,  this  ash  should  only  be 
bought  on  a  guaranteed  analysis,  and  at  a  price  that 
will  make  the  actual  potash  cost  only  four  to  six  cents 
per  pound.  The  wide  variation  is  due  to  the  careless- 
ness with  which  the  hulls  are  burned  in  Southern  mills, 


140  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

being  mixed  with  wood  or  coal.  When  screened  and 
free  from  excessive  moisture,  the  analysis  is  not  liable  to 
be  much  below  the  average  stated.  The  fact  that  skil- 
ful Connecticut  valley  tobacco  farmers  continue  to  pur- 
chase this  article  in  increasing  quantities  year  after  year, 
at  from  $25  to  $35  a  ton,  is  good  evidence  that  a  fair 
equivalent  for  the  money  is  received. 

A  better  idea  of  the  peculiar  composition  of  cotton- 
hull  ashes  can  be  obtained  by  comparing  them  with  the 
analysis  of  wood  ashes,  given  in  the  next  line  above  it 
(Table  IV,  Page  112).  Average  cottonhull  ash  contains 
nearly  25  per  cent  of  potash  and  about  8  per  cent  of 
lime.  In  wood  ashes  this  condition  is  nearly  reversed, 
the  lime  being  33  per  cent,  while  the  potash  is  5  per 
cent.  To  furnish  as  much  potash  in  the  form  of  wood 
ashes  as  is  obtained  in  an  average  ton  of  cottonhull  ash, 
five  tons  of  wood  ashes  would  be  necessary,  which,  at 
$11  to  $15  per  ton,  makes  a  total  cost  of  $60  to  $75,  or 
double  the  cost  of  cottonhull  ash.  The  quantity  of 
phosphoric  acid  obtained  from  cottonhull  ash  is  also 
four  times  as  much  as  from  wood  ashes — as  lime  is  a 
very  cheap  article,  costing  about  $12  per  ton,  it  is  econ- 
omy to  purchase  the  cottonhull  ash  and  supply  the  de- 
ficiency of  lime,  than  to  use  wood  ashes.  These  facts 
have  been  determined  by  experience  as  well  as  analysis, 
and  the  custom  of  applying  cottonhull  ash  and  lime  to 
tobacco  lands  is  quite  general  wherever  this  ash  is  exten- 
sively used,  oyster  shell  lime  being  preferred. 

Another  Objection  to  Wood  Ashes  is  the  great  bulk 
of  matter  that  must  be  handled  if  they  alone  are  used  as 
a  potash  supply.  There  is,  however,  some  compensa- 
tion in  the  large  quantity  of  lime  obtained,  and  wood 
ashes  can  be  used  in  part  on  tobacco  lands.  The 
reasonable  price  of  cottonhull  ash  has  prevented  any  ex- 
tensive use  of  wood  ashes,  and  the  latter  can  only  be 
regarded  by  the  tobacco  grower  as  a  source  of  lime  so 


MANURES   AND   FERTILIZERS.  141 

long  as  cottonhull  ash  can  be  obtained  in  the  present 
quantities.  Cottonhull  ash  is  applied  broadcast  in  the 
spring  at  the  time  of  first  harrowing,  at  the  rate  of  750 
to  1000  pounds  per  acre.  As  the  ash  is  generally  con- 
sidered to  contain  about  25  per  cent  of  potash,  750 
pounds  gives  about  187  pounds  of  potash,  and  1000 
pounds  of  ash  about  250  pounds  of  potash. 

As  the  fine  quality  of  the  present  sulphate  of  potash 
salts  becomes  more  generally  appreciated,  there  is  a  tend- 
ency to  use  them  instead  of  cottonhull  ash,  the  only 
reason  for  the  abandonment  of  the  latter  being  the  un- 
certainty of  composition.  This  ash,  however,  is  yet  the 
most  popular  potash  supply,  and  it  will  long  continue 
to  be  so  because  the  potash  in  it  exists  as  the  carbonate 
of  potash,  which  is  by  far  the  best  form.  Carbonate  of 
potash  exerts  a  powerful  influence  on  the  soil  through 
its  caustic  properties,  and  this  gives  it  a  greater  value 
than  an  equal  amount  in  the  form  of  sulphate  of  potash. 
Another  important  point  is  the  entire  absence  of  chlorine 
in  cottonhull  ash. 

OTHER  MANURIAL   SUBSTANCES. 

Tobacco  Stems  supply  both  nitrogen  and  potash. 
These  stems  must  not  be  confused  with  tobacco  stalks. 
Stems  are  the  midribs  of  the  leaf  that  are  discarded 
when  the  leaf  is  cut  into  wrappers,  or  stemmed  for  the 
English  markets.  They  are  largely  employed  in  ferti- 
lizing tobacco  fields,  and  at  one  time  the  demand  for 
this  purpose  was  very  strong.  Stems  vary  considerably 
in  analysis,  according  to  the  quantity  of  sand  and  water 
present ;  but  they  are  usually  a  good  purchase  at  $10  per 
ton,  but  during  the  boom,  prior  to  the  panic  of  '73,  they 
sold  as  high  as  $35  a  ton.  Kentucky  stems  contain 
about  25  per  cent  water,  organic  and  volatile  matter  62 
per  cent  (including  nitrogen  1.8  per  cent),  and  mineral 
matter  13  per  cent,  of  which  about  8  per  cent  is  potash 


142  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

and  1  per  cent  phosphoric  acid.  Seedleaf  stems  are 
usually  drier,  containing  about  the  same  quantity  of  ni- 
trogen and  phosphoric  acid,  but  one-fourth  less  potash. 
As  with  all  coarse  material,  stems  should  be  applied  very 
early  in  the  spring,  and  the  better  plan  is  to  plow  them 
under  in  the  fall.  They  supply  both  nitrogen  and  pot- 
ash, and  are  well  suited  to  the  tobacco  crop.  They  are 
so  popular  in  the  Connecticut  valley  that  all  the  stems 
available  have  been  used,  and  before  the  season  for  sell- 
ing closed  (about  June  10),  each  year  has  found  the 
dealers  with  their  stocks  exhausted  and  their  late  orders 
unfilled,  from  3000  to  5000  tons  of  stems  being  used 
annually. 

Lime  is  used  to  a  considerable  extent  upon  tobacco 
lands  in  the  seedleaf  districts,  and  its  effect  is  somewhat 
peculiar  and  not  wholly  in  the  way  of  a  food  element. 
Tobacco  ash  contains  a  large  percentage  of  lime,  but  on 
some  lands  sufficient  is  present  in  the  soil  to  meet  the 
demands  of  the  crop.  But  the  opinion  is  growing  that 
a  sufficiency  of  lime  is  more  often  lacking  in  the  soil 
used  for  tobacco  than  is  usually  supposed.  Lime  is  con- 
stantly leaching  from  the  upper  layers  into  the  lower 
strata  of  soil.  All  saline  manures  make  it  leach  further. 
Tobacco,  as  well  as  other  plants,  possesses  the  power  of 
substitution,  and  where  lime  is  abundantly  present  and 
potash  is  lacking,  a  larger  quantity  of  lime  is  consumed 
than  would  otherwise  be  the  case.  It  is,  therefore,  well 
to  have  a  fair  quantity  of  lime  present,  more,  even,  than 
is  usually  found  in  the  soil. 

The  most  important  action  of  lime,  however,  is  not 
that  of  a  plant  food,  but  rather  that  of  a  mechanical 
agent.  It  promotes  nitrification,  or  the  conversion  of 
crude  animal  and  vegetable  matter  into  nitrates.  It 
destroys  woody  tissue,  and  when  used  in  excess,  burns 
out  the  vegetable  matter  present  in  the  soil,  impairing 
its  future  value.  A  little  of  this  burning  effect  is  valu- 


MANURES   AND   FERTILIZERS.  143 

able,  since  by  it  latent  plant  food  is  made  available,  but 
lime  should  not  be  used  on  light  lands  unless  plenty  of 
vegetable  matter  also  is  present.  Lime  corrects  the 
acidity  of  soils  by  combining  with  any  excess  of  acids 
that  may  be  present.  It  also,  to  some  extent,  acts  upon 
the  mineral  elements  and  sets  free  potash  that  would 
not  otherwise  be  available. 

Another  characteristic  of  lime  is  that  it  improves 
the  texture  of  both  light  and  heavy  soil,  but  in  entirely 
different  ways.  It  binds  together  the  loose. particles  of 
light  soils,  making  them  more  compact,  increasing  their 
capacity  to  absorb  and  retain  moisture,  thus  correcting 
the  waste  features  of  such  land.  On  heavy,  especially 
on  clay,  soils,  it  has  an  entirely  different  effect,  as  it 
overcomes  the  tenacious  nature  of  the  land,  causing  the 
particles  to  fall  apart,  thus  promoting  ease  of  cultivation 
and  the  better  development  of  plant  roots.  On  cold, 
wet  lands  it  improves  the  mechanical  condition  of  the 
soil  by  making  it  lighter.  It  also  corrects  the  acidity 
usually  present  in  wet  soils,  promotes  nitrification,  and 
gives  it  life  and  energy.  Almost  any  soil  that  becomes 
hard  and  compact  can  be  improved  by  a  moderate  use  of 
lime.  On  tobacco  lands  it  is  not  used  now  as  much  as 
in  former  years,  although  it  is  resorted  to  whenever  the 
mechanical  condition  of  the  soil  requires  it. 

How  to  Apply  Lime. — The  power  of  lime  to  liberate 
dormant  plant  food  is  very  great  and  fully  understood, 
and  where  land  has  been  heavily  dressed  with  manures 
for  a  number  of  years,  an  application  of  lime  produces 
very  favorable  results.  On  this  account  it  was  formerly 
the  custom  to  make  quite  a  heavy  application  at  inter- 
vals of  three  or  four  years,  but  it  is  now  believed  that 
small,  annual  applications  are  better.  On  the  general 
run  of  lands,  500  pounds  is  ample,  and  more  often  one 
cask  per  acre  is  used.  Nova  Scotia  lime,  such  as  is  used 
for  building  purposes,  is  the  best.  Some  advocate  the 


144  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

use  of  air-slaked  lime  only,  while  others  prefer  to  apply 
it  in  a  more  caustic  state. 

A  favorite  way  is  to  dump  the  contents  of  a  cask  on 
the  plowed  field,  leaving  it  a  few  days  to  slake  by  the 
influence  of  the  moisture  of  the  air  and  the  soil ;  if  then 
it  is  lumpy,  sufficient  water  is  added  to  reduce  it  to  a 
fine,  dry  powder,  care  being  taken  that  it  does  not  be- 
come pasty.  It  is  then  scattered  broadcast  over  the 
field,  after  the  manure  has  been  applied. 

As  in  the  case  of  manure,  the  best  time  to  apply  it 
is  in  the  fall,  or  if  not  done  then,  very  early  in  the 
spring.  It  absorbs  the  excessive  water  in  the  land,  and 
also  assists  in  reducing  coarse  manure  to  the  more  con- 
genial form  of  vegetable  mold.  Lime  exists  in  large 
quantities  in  wood  ashes,  and  to  a  smaller  extent  iu  cot- 
tonhull  ash,  and  some  of  the  beneficial  action  of  wood 
ashes  results  from  the  lime.  In  leached  ashes,  which 
are  highly  prized  in  some  sections  for  grass  lands,  lime 
is  very  abundant,  and  the  effect  produced  is  almost  en- 
tirely from  the  lime.  Where  it  can  be  cheaply  bought, 
oyster-shell  lime  is  particularly  prized  because  of  its  fine 
mechanical  condition,  and  its  use  is  on  the  increase. 

Sulphate  of  Lime,  gypsum  or  plaster,  is  used  to 
some  extent  on  tobacco,  and  at  one  time  was  highly 
recommended.  While  the  plants  have  the  power  of 
obtaining  lime  from  the  plaster  to  some  extent,  its  prin- 
cipal function  is  that  of  an  absorbent  only.  It  takes  up 
water  greedily,  and  has  an  affinity  for  ammonia,  but 
whether  sufficient  to  prevent  in  part  the  liability  of  loss 
of  nitrogen  by  leaching  is  not  demonstrated.  Sulphate 
of  lime  also  has  some  influence  upon  the  potash  com- 
pounds of  the  soil,  setting  the  potash  free  from  inert 
combinations.  For  these  reasons,  about  five  hundred 
pounds  per  acre  have  been  used  on  light  lands,  especially 
where  a  large  quantity  of  organic  matter  is  present. 
But  in  the  absence  of  tests  to  determine  its  value,  the 


MANURES  AND   FERTILIZERS.  145 

use  of  gypsum  on  tobacco  land  is  not  to  be  recommended, 
for  it  is  not  yet  shown  to  possess  any  advantages  over 
lime  alone,  while  it  may  be  objectionable. 
FERTILIZER  FORMULAS. 

From  the  previous  pages  it  appears  that  a  wide 
range  of  materials  can  be  used  for  fertilizing  tobacco 
lands.  And  if  one  material  should  be  difficult  to  obtain, 
another  can  be  substituted.  Of  course,  the  greatest 
variety  is  in  the  nitrogenous  compounds,  as  the  materi- 
als are  animal,  vegetable  and  purely  chemical.  The 
sources  of  potash  are  confined  to  two  materials,  ashes 
and  salts.  To  summarize  the  facts  given  in  the  forego- 
ing pages,  the  best  plan  will  be  to  give  formulas,  or 
methods  of  mixing.  It  should  be  emphasized,  however, 
that  barn  manure  should  be  used  with  these  formulas  to 
as  large  an  extent  as  possible.  All  the  following  formu- 
las are  based  on  a  previous  application  of  eight  to  ten 
cords  of  manure  per  acre,  or  three  tons  of  tobacco  stems, 
and  each  one  has  been  widely  used.  While  the  use  of 
cottonseed  meal  is  very  general  and  has  given  good  re- 
sults, it  can  be  replaced  with  other  ammoniates  in  case 
meal  cannot  be  obtained,  and,  in  fact,  it  would  probably 
be  an  improvement  to  use  other  ammoniates  in  conjunc- 
tion "with  the  meal.  A  mixed  nitrogen-supply  gives 
better  results,  as  a  rule,  than  when  a  single  material 
only  is  used,  for  if  the  action  of  one  is  hindered,  or  too 
rapid,  the  others  correct  this  defect.  This  is  the  rule 
used  in  compounding  commercial  fertilizers. 

No.  1.    Composed  of  Containing 

2000  Ibs.  cottonseed  meal,  "I        xrurno 


500  Ib.  plter,  J        Phosphoric  acid,  126  Ibs. 

The  essential  elements  are  derived  from  the  meal 

and  ash  ;  the  plaster  and  lime  only  being  supplied  to 

affect  the  soil  mechanically  and  to  assist  the  burning 

qualities  of  the  tobacco.     Linseed  meal  is  used  instead 

10 


146  TOBACCO    LEAF. 

of  cottonseed  when  it  can  be  bought  to  better  advantage. 
This  formula  has  also  been  modified  by  omitting  the 
lime  and  plaster,  adding  more  ash  or  meal,  and  some- 
times by  adding  small  quantities  of  superphosphates,  or 
tankage.  It  is  also  used  in  the  following  combinations  : 

No.  2.    Composed  of  Containing 

1000  Ibs.  cottonseed  meal,  *> 
1250  Ibs.  castor  pomace,  •„.,.  100  ,, 

•>nn  ilia  pnttmiiiiiil  a«ii  Nitrogen,  128  Ibs. 

" 


500  Ibs.  plaster, 

No.  3.    Composed  of  Containing 

1000  Ibs.  cottonseed  meal,  ") 

600  Ibs.  dry  fish  scrap,  Nitrogen,  116  Ibs. 

500  Ibs.  96  per  cent  sulphate  potash,    y      Phosphoric  acid,  60  Ibs. 

500  Ibs.  lime,  Potash,  267  Ibs. 

500  Ibs.  plaster,  J 

No.  4.    Composed  of  Containing 

1000  Ibs.  castor  pomace,  *| 


500  Ibs.  96  per  cent  sulphate  potash.  sn'  s" 

No.  5.  On  old  tobacco  fields  that  are  in  good  heart,  a  favorite  for- 
mula at  present  is  2000  Ibs.  cottonseed  meal  and  1000  Ibs.  cottonhull 
ash. 

No.  6.  One  well-known  tobacco  grower  says:  "My  formula  fora 
homemade  tobacco  fertilizer  is  2000  Ibs.  cottonseed  meal,  1000  Ibs. 
double  sulphate  of  potash,  1000  Ibs.  plaster  and  1000  Ibs.  lime,  and  it  is 
the  best  and  cheapest  fertilizer  for  tobacco  I  have  ever  tried." 

No.  7.  Another  applies  10  cords  of  manure  per  acre,  from  1000  to 
2000  Ibs.  cottonseed  meal,  and  400  to  500  Ibs.  Peruvian  guano. 

No.  8.  A  formula  used  by  several  successful  growers  is  for  one 
acre  of  land  that  has  a  good  supply  of  manure  or  vegetable  matter  in 
the  soil: 

Composed  of  Containing 

300  Ibs.  lime,  or  about  1  cask,        "1       Nitrogen   166  Ibs 

400  Ibs.  sulphate  of  potash,  I       gggg^aig;  140  lbs. 

600  lbs.  pure  bone  meal,  Tv>ta<j)i   9<u  ih« 

2000  lbs  cottonseed  meal,  J       Potash,  234  lbs. 

No.  9.    Another  favorite  formula  is 

Composed  of  Containing 

1500  lbs.  cottonseed  meal,  "|       Nitrogen  07  ihs 

1500  M^spottonhull  ash,  I       Nitrogen  «££* 

rotasPh,4001bs. 


No.  10.    A  homemade  tobacco  fertilizer  that  gave  good  satisfaction  : 
Composed  of  Containing 

2000  lbs.  cottonseed  meal,        )     Nitrogen,  152  lbs. 
1000  lbs.  cottonhull  ash,  }     Phosphoric  acid,  164  lbs. 

1000  lbs.  lime,  )     Potash,  360  lbs. 

No.  11.    Another,  used  with  excellent  results  at  the  rate  of  two  tons 
per  acre  : 

Composed  of  Containing 

1000  lbs.  cottonseed  meal,        )     Nitrogen,  76  lbs. 
500  lbs.  cottonhull  ash,  J     Phosphoric  acid,  82  lbs. 

50  lbs.  lime,  )     Potash,  160  lbs. 


MANURES  AND   FERTILIZERS.  14:7 


COMMERCIAL  OR    MANUFACTURED    FERTILIZERS. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  fertilizer  industry,  the 
presence  of  large  quantities  of  chlorine  in  the  potash 
salts,  and  the  use  of  animal  matter,  tankage,  blood  and 
fish,  together  with  the  general  ignorance  of  the  pecul- 
iarities of  the  tobacco  plant,  resulted  in  the  production 
of  unsatisfactory  commercial  fertilizers  for  tobacco,  and 
a  distrust  of  such  preparations  grew  up  among  tobacco 
growers,  which  may  still  .exist  in  some  measure.  As  the 
value  of  the  crop  increased  and  large  areas  were  devoted 
to  its  culture,  more  attention  has  been  given  to  its  re- 
quirements by  fertilizer  manufacturers.  Some  of  them 
have  made  a  study  of  the  results  of  scientific  and  prac- 
tical experiments,  and  there  is  to-day  almost  no  risk  to 
even  so  delicate  a  crop  as  tobacco,  from  the  judicious 
use  of  the  best  known  brands  of  tobacco  fertilizers.  The 
Connecticut  valley  crop  of  the  finest  quality  that  sold 
for  the  highest  price  in  recent  years,  was  grown  on  a 
well-known  tobacco  fertilizer. 

The  one  condition  of  fertility  that  is  deficient  in 
prepared  fertilizers  is  organic  matter.  And  manufac- 
turers make  a  mistake  in  advertising  the  exclusive  use 
of  their  fertilizers,  when  far  better  results  can  be  attained 
by  applying  them  in  conjunction  with  manure  and  other 
organic  matter.  This  has  resulted  from  the  idea  that 
where  manure  is  used,  fertilizers  will  not  be  employed, 
and,  therefore,  the  less  said  about  manure  by  the  manu- 
facturers and  the  more  farmers  are  led  away  from  it, 
the  larger  will  be  the  sale  of  commercial  preparations. 
While  this  may  be  true  with  some  crops,  it  is  not  so 
with  tobacco.  All  artificial  fertilizers,  whether  prepared 
by  the  manufacturer  or  the  farmer,  give  the  best  results 
on  soils  in  good  heart ;  that  is,  rich  in  organic  matter. 

The  manufacturers  of  the  best  tobacco  fertilizers 
guarantee  that  the  potash  is  from  sulphate  salts  only, 


148  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

and  that  chlorine  is  not  present  in  appreciable  quantities. 
Some  also  state  that  no  nitrates  are  present.  These  fer- 
tilizers come  prepared  in  admirable  mechanical  condition 
and  contain  from  4  to  6  per  cent  of  nitrogen,  from  7  to 
11  per  cent  of  actual  potash,  while  the  phosphoric  acid 
does  not  much  exceed  6  per  cent,  and  sometimes  is  less, 
but  little  of  it  being  in  an  insoluble  form.  Each  ferti- 
lizer is  compounded  by  a  private  formula,  whereby  the 
manufacturer  seeks  to  preserve  the  uniformity  of  results 


FIG.  19.  REMOVING  CLOTH  COVER  FROM  LARGE  BED  OF  PLANTS. 

obtained,  and  each  one  very  naturally  claims  that  his 
own  brand  is  the  best  for  the  peculiar  requirements  of 
the  crop.  Undoubtedly,  the  plant  food  in  the  different 
brands  is  obtained  from  different  materials,  or  from  dif- 
ferent proportions  of  the  same  materials,  as  each  varia- 
tion produces  a  somewhat  peculiar  influence  on  the  soil 
and  plant.  The  popularity  of  the  brands  differs  in  dif- 
ferent sections,  or  with  different  growers.  Where  a 
brand  has  demonstrated  its  value  by  producing  satisfac- 
tory crops,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  continue  its  use.  But 
the  average  analysis  shows  that,  taken  as  a  whole,  with- 


MANURES   AND   FERTILIZERS.  149 

out  allowing  for  peculiarities  of  composition  of  the  ferti- 
lizer itself,  or  of  the  soil  on  which  it  is  used — which 
cannot  be  told  by  analysis — any  of  the  standard  brands 
are  good ;  and  experience  shows  that  they  can  be  used 
with  safety  to  the  crop  and  profit  to  the  grower. 

How  to  Use  Commercial  Fertilizers. — The  following 
directions  as  to  how  much  fertilizer  to  use,  how  to  apply 
it,  etc.,  are  given  by  a  well-known  manufacturer,  and  his 
remarks  apply  with  equal  force  to  all  brands.  Alone, 
without  anything  else,  a  ton  of  high  grade  commercial 
fertilizer  is  good  manuring.  Sow  one-half  ton  or  more 
per  acre  before  plowing,  then  plow  under  lightly  (half 
depth).  In  ten  days  or  two  weeks  plow  the  land  at  full 
depth  and  sow  on  the  balance,  thoroughly  cutting  in 
with  a  long-toothed  wheel,  or  any  of  the  improved  har- 
rows. This  will  leave  the  land,  so  far  as  manuring  goes, 
ready  for  fitting  in  the  usual  way  before  setting  plants. 
If  one^half  quantity  stable  manure  is  used,  then  sow 
half  a  ton  per  acre  at  last  harrowing,  working  it  into  the 
land  thoroughly.  Then  fit  the  land  for  setting,  as 
usual.  If  three-fourths  quantity  of  stable  manure  is 
used,  apply  500  to  600  pounds  per  acre  and  harrow  in  at 
last  harrowing,  and  fit  the  land  in  usual  way.  When 
fertilizer  is  used  alone  on  sod  land,  apply  2000  pounds 
per  acre  after  plowing,  and  thoroughly  cut  in  with 
wheel,  disk  or  long-toothed  harrow,  as  long  as  possible 
before  the  time  of  fitting  the  land.  Then  harrow  again, 
and  fit  the  land  for  setting  in  ordinary  way. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   SEED   BED — RAISING   SEED. 

No  step  in  the  culture  of  tobacco  is  more  important 
than  proper  care  in  the  preparation  and  the  sowing 
of  the  seed  beds.  This  work  cannot  be  neglected  in 
manner  or  season  without  running  the  risk  of  making  a 
partial,  or  total,  failure  of  the  crop.  To  make  good 
beds  is  a  laborious  task,  and  requires  ripe  judgment, 
both  in  the  selection  of  the  location,  the  soil,  and  in  the 
preparation  of  the  land.  To  have  plenty  of  good, 
strong,  healthy  plants  is  the  surest  foundation  for  a  good 
crop  of  tobacco,  provided  they  are  from  seed  true  to  the 
desired  standard. 

1.  As  to  Location, — The  land  selected  should  have 
a  slightly  southern  exposure,  if  possible,  to  get  the  full 
benefit  of  the  warm  rays  of  the  sun  in  early  spring,  so 
as  to  hasten  the  growth  of  the  plants,  in  order  that  they 
may  be  transplanted  before  the  hot  summer  weather  sets 
in.  A  southeastern  exposure  is  next  to  be  preferred, 
then  a  western.  The  worst  of  all  is  a  northern  slope. 
All  trees  standing  within  thirty  feet  of  the  bed  should 
be  cut  down.  Protection  on  the  north  and  west  sides  by 
a  skirt  of  woods  is  desirable,  inasmuch  as  the  young 
plants  are  thus  sheltered  from  the  cold  blasts  of  early 
spring.  The  best  possible  situation  is  on  a  sloping  hill 
on  the  north  side  of  a  running  stream,  but  sufficiently 
elevated  to  be  above  any  danger  from  overflows.  In 
such  a  situation  the  fogs  will  quicken  the  germination 
of  the  seeds  and  accelerate  the  growth  of  the  plants, 
bringing  them  forward  from  ten  days  to  two  weeks 
earlier  than  on  level  land. 

150 


RAISING   SEED.  151 

2.  As  to  the  Soil — The  best  is  a  rich,   friable, 
black  virgin  loam,  or  sandy  soil.     Black  is  preferable 
because  it  absorbs  to  a  greater  degree  the  rays  of  the  sun, 
and  brings  forward  the  plants  several  days  earlier,  which 
is  highly  important  to  the  tobacco  grower.     A  differ- 
ence of  a  few  days  often  makes  the  difference  between  a 
rich,  fancy  article  and  a  dull-colored,  frosty  one.     The 
preference  in  the  Clarksville  heavy-shipping  district  is  a 
spot  in  the  woods,  covered  with  a  dense,  hazel  thicket, 
or  black  gum  with  a  few  scrub  hickories.     This  wild 
growth  invariably  indicates  rich,  loose,  deep  soil,  with  a 
large  content  of  potash.     In  the  White  Burley  district 
of  Kentucky,  beds  are 

originally  burned  and 
prepared  on  old  sod 
lands.  Many  good  i 
farmers  select  a  place1 
in  their  vegetable  gar- 
den, cover  it  with  vir- 
gin mold  taken  from 
the  woods,  and  SOW  it  FIG.  20.  BASKET  FOB  CARRYING  PLANTS. 
after  thoroughly  burning  the  land.  In  the  North  a 
dark  but  rather  sandy  soil  is  preferred  as  best  adapted  to 
a  strong  growth  of  roots ;  the  surface  does  not  bake  or 
crack  when  dry,  and  the  plants  can  be  lifted  easily  with- 
out much  damage. 

3.  As  to  Burning. — The  wild  growth  should  be 
cut  off  near  the  surface  of  the  ground  with  an  axe,  not 
dug  up ;  the  leaves  carefully  raked  from  the  land,  and 
then,  beginning  at  one  side,  a  layer  of  trash  should  be 
put  down  longitudinally,  until  it  is  about  four  feet  high 
and  four  wide.     Against  this,  brush  should  be  set  up, 
nearly  vertically,  leaning  just  enough  to  prevent  it  from 
falling  back  on  the  bed.     This  is  continued  until  about 
eight  feet  of  the  length  of  the  bed  is  passed  over,  when 
a  layer  of  wood,  eight  feet  long,  is  set  on  the  end  lean- 


152  TOBACCO  LEAP. 

ing  against  the  brush.  After  this,  eight  feet  more  of 
brush  is  set  up,  and  a  layer  of  wood,  and  so  on  until  the 
whole  space  is  occupied.  It  should  then  be  set  on  fire, 
and  when  the  brush  burns  out  the  whole  bed  will  be 
thickly  covered  with  burning  wood,  which  will  be  con- 
sumed upon  the  ground  and  burn  it  sufficiently  hard. 
The  brush  may  all  be  set  up  without  interspersing  the 
wood  and  then  afterward  the  whole  should  be  covered 
with  a  layer  of  wood,  as  shown  in  Fig.  12.  Old  rails 
laid  upon  skids,  so  as  to  keep  them  from  lying  on  the 
ground,  three  or  four  deep,  or  the  logs  of  an  old 
house,  are  admirable  materials  for  burning  plant  beds. 
They  are  easily  set  afire  and  burn  the  ground  well.  In 
repairing  fences,  the  old  rails  should  always  be  kept 
for  this  purpose.  They  save  much  valuable  timber 
and  a  great  deal  of  hard  labor.  The  burning  destroys 
all  weed  seed. 

4.  Preparation  and  Sowing. — The  ground  should 
be  burned  until  it  has  a  reddish,  or  soft,  brick-like 
appearance,  and  will  pulverize  into  an  impalpable  pow- 
der. It  should  then  be  coultered,  or  spaded  up,  and 
chopped  over  with  hoes  until  it  is  well  prepared.  The 
ashes  should  not  be  raked  off,  but  thoroughly  incorpo- 
rated with  the  top  soil.  At  the  North,  a  heavy  dressing 
of  well-rotted  horse  manure,  hog  manure  or  cottonseed 
meal  is  applied  in  the  fall,  so  that  the  fertility  can  be 
well  spread  through  the  soil.  Then  in  the  spring  about 
150  pounds  of  some  high-grade  commercial  fertilizer  is 
raked  in  to  every  100  square  yards. 

As  soon  as  the  ground  can  be  worked  in  the  spring 
without  packing,  and  danger  from  hard  frosts  is  over,  it 
should  be  harrowed,  or  lightly  spaded,  and  made  very 
fine  and  friable  by  both  harrow  and  hand  rake,  and  to  a 
depth  of  two  or  three  inches.  Care  should  be  taken 
not  to  reverse  the  soil.  All  roots  and  rocks  should  be 
picked  up,  the  land  receiving  a  good  raking  after  each 


KAISIHG   SEED.  153 

digging.  When  in  nice  order,  mark  off  beds  four  feet 
wide,  and  it  is  ready  to  be  seeded. 

It  is  usual  at  the  South  to  sow  at  the  rate  of  one 
heaping  tablespoonful  of  seeds  to  every  100  square 
yards.  In  the  Connecticut  valley  the  rate  is  to  sow  a 
tablespoonful  of  seed  to  each  square  rod  of  bed;  this 
gives  about  60,000  seed,  but  many  will  be  covered  too 
deep  and  therefore  fail  to  grow.  Some  sow  the  seed  by 
taking  a  small  quantity  between  the  thumb  and  finger 
and  scattering  over  the  bed,  first  one  way  and  then  the 
other,  to  ensure  even  seeding;  others  mix  the  seed, 
before  sowing,  with  a  pint  of  corn  or  cottonseed  meal, 
or  ashes  or  land  plaster,  as  it  is  then  easier  to  handle, 
and  the  meal  can  be  seen  upon  the  ground  and  a  more 
perfect  sowing  made.  Some  sprout  the  seed  and  claim 
they  save  a  few  days  in  starting.  While  such  seed 
comes  up  a  little  quicker,  it  is  doubtful  if  any  ma- 
terial difference  in  the  size  of  the  plants  can  be  seen 
in  three  or  four  weeks.  To  sprout  seed,  place  a 
piece  of  dark,  woolen  cloth  in  a  dish,  and  cover  the 
cloth  about  one-fourth  an  inch  deep  with  seed;  then 
place  another  woolen  cloth  over  it,  and  saturate  with 
warm  water,  and  place  in  a  warm  spot  near  the  stove. 
In  three  or  four  days  small  white  spots  can  be  seen 
on  the  seed,  indicating  germination,  and  it  then  should 
be  sown  at  once;  longer  sprouting  would  develop 
rootlets,  and  this  should  not  be  done  until  the  seed  is 
in  the  ground. 

Do  not  rake  in  the  seed  ;  that  would  cover  it  too 
much.  The  best  plan  is  to  run  a  heavy  hand  roller  over 
the  bed,  or  press  it  with  a  board,  or  with  the  feet,  until 
the  entire  surface  is  smooth  and  compact.  Southern 
planters  tramp  in  the  seed  by  going  around  the  bed,  one 
foot  following  the  other,  with  toes  pointing  outward, 
making  a  smooth,  well-tramped  surface.  Firming  the 
soil  is  very  essential  to  success,  as  the  compact  surface 


154 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


RAISING   SEED.  155 

retains  the  moisture  in  the  ground,  which  materially  as- 
sists in  the  growth  of  the  seed  and  tiny  plants. 

A  frequent  mistake  is  made  in  using  too  much  seed. 
It  is  better  to  err  in  using  too  little.  In  the  latter  case, 
the  plants  will  be  large,  healthy,  low  and  stocky,  and 
will  withstand  a  very  hot  sun,  and  may  be  set  with  very 
little  moisture  in  the  soil.  When  plants  are  crowded  in 
the  bed  the  stems  are  small,  delicate,  white  and  crisp. 
They  have  such  a  weakness  of  constitution  that  hun- 
dreds of  them  perish  after  being  transplanted,  and  even 
if  they  survive  this  shock,  their  vitality  is  so  feeble  that 
several  weeks  must  elapse  before  they  show  a  healthy 
growth.  In  the  meantime,  they  are  preyed  upon  by  cut- 
worms, grasshoppers  and  other  enemies,  so  that  a  good 
stand  is  almost  impossible  to  be  secured  with  such 
plants.  In  consequence,  the  tobacco  field  is  of  uneven 
growth,  which  entails  much  unnecessary  work  upon  the 
farmer  and  seriously  impairs  the  value  of  his  crop. 
Trenches  should  be  dug  on  the  upper  end  of  the  bed  and 
on  both  sides,  so  as  to  keep  any  floods  of  water  from  run- 
ning over  the  bed.  In  Germany  this  is  done  as  shown 
in  Fig.  13. 

Sprouting  the  Seed,  which  is  not  practiced  in  the 
South,  is  frequently  resorted  to  by  northern  growers  in 
order  to  hasten  the  growth  of  the  plants.  In  Wisconsin, 
the  seed  is  mixed  with  finely  pulverized,  rotten  wood, 
taken  from  the  hollow  of  an  old  stump  or  log,  and 
placed  in  a  pan  or  dish  in  a  warm  place,  where  it  is  kept 
moderately  damp  by  sprinkling  with  tepid  water. 
Under  such  conditions,  the  seed  will  germinate  in  about 
two  weeks,  and  is  sown  as  soon  as  the  danger  of  frost  is 
passed.  Another  plan  is  to  sprinkle  the  seed  thinly 
upon  a  piece  of  dampened  cotton  cloth  and  cover  it  with 
another  cloth  made  of  wool.  The  two  are  rolled 
together,  the  woolen  cloth  on  the  outside.  This  roll  is 
kept  in  a  warm  place,  or  under  a  stove,  and  dipped  in 


156  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

tepid  water  every  day.  In  from  four  to  six  days  the 
white  germs  will  appear.  In  the  northern  part  of  Illi- 
nois such  cloths  are  kept  moist  in  a  pan  of  earth,  of 
which  there  is  a  layer  below  as  well  as  above  the  cloth. 
Great  care  must  be  observed  in  all  these  forcing  proc- 
esses. It  often  happens  that  the  soil  of  the  plant  bed 
is  too  wet,  or  otherwise  not  in  proper  condition  when 
the  seed  is  ready,  and  when  the  delay  of  a  day  or  two 
may  render  the  sprouted  seed  useless.  Prudence  would 
suggest,  in  such  a  case,  the  preparation  of  several  par- 
cels of  seed  at  intervals  of  a  few  days. 

Covering  for  Plant  Beds. — Nothing  -that  has  ever 
been  invented  or  devised  has  effected  so  much  for  the 
tobacco  grower,  at  such  a  small  cost,  as  a  canvas  cover- 
ing for  the  seed  bed.  It  is  an  absolute  protection 
against  the  ravages  of  the  flea  beetle ;  it  hastens  the 
growth  of  the  plant  by  keeping  the  bed  moist  and  warm, 
and  it  prevents  the  accumulation,  on  the  bed,  of  drifted 
leaves  or  trash.  The  heat  absorbed  by  the  soil  from  the 
sun's  rays  during  the  day  is  radiated,  and  lost  at  night 
in  the  open  air ;  but  under  this  covering  it  is  reflected 
by  the  canvas  to  the  soil  again,  and  thus  a  warm 
temperature  is  preserved,  highly  promotive  of  the  growth 
of  the  plants.  A  given  area,  protected  by  canvas  cover- 
ing, will  furnish  at  least  a  third  more  plants.  Its  con- 
struction is  very  simple.  A  frame  or  box  is  made 
around  the  bed,  four  or  five  inches  high,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  15.  A  few  wires  may  be  stretched  across  the 
frame,  and  closely  tacked  on  the  edges  to  uphold  the 
canvas.  In  place  of  wire,  a  small  quantity  of  light  brush 
thrown  over  the  bed  will  help  to  sustain  the  weight  of 
the  cloth.  Better  than  either  are  a  few  bows  made  of 
wire,  like  the  wickets  used  in  croquet  sets,  and  stuck  at 
intervals  over  the  bed.  These  will  hold  up  the  canvas 
and  yet  leave  it  flexible. 

Instead  of  making  the  frame  the  full  size  of  the 


BAISING   SEED. 


157 


bed,  a  more  convenient  plan,  probably,  would  be  to  con- 
struct a  number  of  smaller  frames,  eight  or  ten  feet 
square,  over  which  the  cloth  may  be  stretched  and 
securely  fastened,  a  sufficient  number  of  these  frames 
being  provided  to  cover  the  ^beds.  Such  frames,  well 
braced,  with  their  covering,  could  be  removed  when  no 
longer  needed  and  put  away  for  future  use.  If  the 
cloth  is  treated  with  a  single  coating  of  white  lead  and 
oil,  it  will  last  for  several  years. 

Still  another  method  may  be  more  economical. 
The  frames  may  be  made,  and  properly  braced  with  di- 
agonal pieces  inserted  at  the  corners,  flush  with  the 


FIG.  22.     SETTING  PLANTS  BY  HAND. 


upper  edges  of  the  plank.  The  cloth  or  canvas  should 
be  cut  some  three  inches  longer  and  wider  than  the 
frame  and  hemmed  along  the  edges.  Eyelet  holes 
worked  along  the  edges  make  it  easy  to  fasten  the 
canvas  to  hooks,  pegs  or  nails  driven  in  the  outer  faces 
of  the  frame,  two  or  three  inches  below  the  upper  edge. 
Constructed  in  this  manner,  the  canvas  may  be  rolled  up 
so  as  to  let  in  the  air  and  sunlight  to  harden  the  plants, 
see  Fig.  16.  Such  coverings  for  beds  amount  to  a  pos- 
itive insurance  of  the  plants  at  a  very  small  expense, 
for  the  cost  of  a  frame  and  canvas  to  cover  one  hundred 
yards  need  not  exceed  four  dollars,  as  the  price  of  suit- 


158  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

able  cloth  ranges  from  three  to  three  and  one-half  cents 
per  yard,  and  will,  if  taken  care  of,  last  several  seasons. 
At  the  North,  glass  is  often  used  instead  of  cloth — reg- 
ular hotbed  sash,  five  and  one-half  feet  long.  Cloth- 
covered  frames  of  the  same  size  are  made  to  take  the 
place  of  the  glass  sash  after  the  plants  are  well  started, 
this  arrangement  being  shown  by  Fig.  17. 

Other  Methods. — Some  planters  select  a  place  and 
make  a  standing  bed,  which  is  kept  and  used  from  year 
to  year.  After  the  planting  season  is  over,  and  before 
the  grass  and  weeds  have  gone  to  seed,  the  standing  bed 
is  coultered,  and  then  covered  with  straw,  leaves,  or 
brush  with  leaves  on,  so  thickly  as  to  hide  the  surface 
and  prevent  vegetable  growth.  The  trash  and  brush 
are  burned  off  at  some  dry  time  in  November,  or  later. 
Such  standing  beds,  if  well  manured,  are  said  to  become 
better  each  succeeding  year.  They  are  heavily  dressed 
with  fresh  loam  from  the  woodlands,  and  composts  of 
stable  manure,  thoroughly  rotted,  care  being  taken  to 
handle  it  so  as  to  destroy  all  foreign  seeds,  and  also 
with  frequent  topdressings  of  good  commercial  fertilizers. 

In  Louisiana  the  soil  is  not  burned  at  all  in  making 
seed  beds,  because  the  immense  quantity  of  undecom- 
posed  vegetable  matter  contained  in  the  soil  makes  it 
too  light  and  porous  when  burned.  A  spot  is  selected, 
generally  of  old  land,  which  is  highly  manured  with  cow 
dung  spread  on  to  a  depth  of  six  inches,  and  turned 
under  with  a  spade  or  plow.  After  this,  the  bed  is 
chopped  fine  with  a  hoe  and  pulverized  with  frequent 
rakings.  This  is  done  in  October.  The  bed  is  worked 
again  in  December,  and  beaten  with  the  back  of  a  spade, 
or  compacted  with  a  roller ;  channels  to  secure  drainage 
are  cut  through  it  every  three  feet,  and  the  seed  is  sown 
in  January. 

In  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  when  heds  are  made 
upon  rich  virgin  soils,  manurial  applications  are  rare, 


RAISING   SEED.  159 

but  in  all  the  Atlantic  States  it  is  the  general  practice 
to  chop  fine  well-rotted  stable  manure  in  the  soil  when 
the  bed  is  being  prepared  for  sowing.  Many  sow  the 
seed,  and  even  the  surface  of  the  bed  with  well  pulver- 
ized manure  free  from  grass  seed.  A  light  dressing  of 
the  sulphate  of  lime  (land  plaster)  has  been  found  of 
great  service,  also  one  of  the  superphosphate  of  lime. 
Liquid  manure  applied  after  the  plants  are  up  will  prob- 
ably be  found  the  best  of  all  applications  to  promote  a 
rapid  and  healthy  growth.  A  good  liquid  manure  for 
this  purpose  is  made  by  taking  a  tight  barrel  half  filled 
with  cow  dung  or  well-rotted  stable  manure,  and  adding 
water  enough  to  fill  it.  The  whole  should  be  stirred 
until  it  becomes  a  thick,  soapy  mass,  which  should  be 
applied  to  the  bed  by  using  a  broom  as  a  sprinkler.  A 
gallon  of  guano  in  a  barrel  of  water  will  also  be  found 
to  stimulate  the  growth  of  the  young  plants.  This 
quality,  without  detriment,  may  be  used  on  one  hun- 
dred square  yards. 

As  to  the  Best  Time  for  Burning  Plant  Beds,  there 
is  a  variety  of  opinion.  They  may  be  burned  at  any 
time  from  the  first  of  November  until  the  25th  of  March, 
when  the  ground  is  dry  enough.  A  bed  burned  when 
the  land  is  wet  or  frozen  rarely  does  well.  When  the 
land  is  too  wet  to  plow,  it  is  too  wet  to  burn  plant  beds. 
Those  burned  in  the  fall  usually  require  less  fuel,  are 
more  easily  prepared,  and  the  ashes  have  more  time  to 
rot,  thus  making  better  plant  food.  The  ashes  should 
not  be  removed,  but  incorporated  with  the  earth.  When 
beds  are  burned  in  the  fall,  they  should  be  dug  up  and 
prepared  for  sowing.  In  this  condition  they  should  be 
left  to  the  ameliorating  effects  of  the  freezes  until  the 
latter  part  of  January  or  the  early  part  of  February,  or 
even  as  late  as  April,  when  canvas  coverings  are  intended 
to  be  used.  One  of  the  best  tobacco  ^growers  in  the 
South  gives  it  as  the  result  of  his  experience  for  thirty- 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


FIG.   23.      BEMIS    TKANSPLANTEB    AT    WORK. 

This  machine  sets  cabbage,  tomato,  strawberry  and  other  plants,  as  well  as  tobacco  plants 
It  Is  made  by  the  Fuller  <fc  Johnson  M'f 'g  Co.,  of  Madison,  Wis.,  U.  S.  A. 


RAISING    SEED.  161 

five  years,  that  a  rod  of  land  well  burned  and  prepared 
in  the  fall,  will  furnish  as  many  good  plants  as  double 
the  area  burned  at  the  usual  time,  in  February  or  March. 
This  planter,  however,  had  never  used  the  canvas  covers. 

The  question  has  been  frequently  asked,  why  soils 
unburned  will  not  answer  as  well  as  burned  soils.  All 
the  good  effects  of  burning  have  never  been  accounted 
for.  We  do  know,  however,  that  soils  well  burned  will 
bring  strong,  healthy  plants,  and  those  unburned  will 
often  produce  yellow,  small  and  sickly  ones.  One  effect 
of  the  fire  is  to  destroy  all  the  seeds  of  weeds  and  grass, 
giving  the  entire  land  to  whatever  seeds  are  sown  upon 
it.  A  second  effect  is  to  render  the  soil  more  permeable 
to  the  roots  of  the  plants,  and  by  increasing  its  absorp- 
tive capacity,  preserve  the  proper  degree  of  warmth  and 
moisture.  A  third  effect  is  the  inducing  of  a  more 
thorough  pulverization  of  the  soil,  rendering  it  more 
friable,  and  increasing,  as  it  were,  the  area  of  the  feed- 
ing ground  of  the  roots,  thus  rendering  more  plant  food 
available. 

Another  beneficial  effect  is  produced  by  the  pres- 
ence of  minute  particles  of  charcoal,  which,  being  black, 
makes  the  bed  warmer,  and  being  a  good  condenser  of 
the  gases  within  its  pores,  particularly  of  carbonic  acid 
gas  (absorbing,  as  it  does,  90  times  its  volume),  it  col- 
lects a  rich  supply  of  food  for  the  plants.  And  finally, 
it  is  well  known  to  chemists  that  burned  clay,  being 
more  porous,  absorbs  ammoniacal  and  other  gases  from 
the  soil  and  from  the  atmosphere  more  readily,  and  fixes 
them  for  the  use  of  plants.  All  clays,  says  Mr.  Johnson, 
contain  sensible  quantities  of  most  of  the  mineral  sub- 
stances,— potash,  soda,  lime,  etc., — which  plants  require 
for  their  healthy  growth.  They  are,  however,  in  an 
insoluble  condition,  which  circumstance,  united  to  the 
stiffness  of  the  clay,  prevents  the  roots  of  plants  from 
readily  taking  them  up.  The  chemical  condition  of  the 
11 


162  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

constituents  of  the  clay  is  altered  when  burned  by  a 
gentle  heat,  and  the  substances  which  the  plants  require 
are  rendered  more  soluble. 

CARE   OF    PLANT    BEDS. 

The  covering,  whether  of  glass  or  cloth,  should  be 
removed  after  the  plants  are  up,  in  the  sunny  part  of 
the  day  at  first,  and  gradually  for  a  longer  time,  until 


FIG.  24.     FIELD  READY    FOB   MACHINE    TRANSPLANTING  (Connecticut). 

finally  no  covering  is  used.  This  "hardening"  process 
is  absolutely  necessary,  to  give  the  plants  sufficient 
strength  of  constitution  to  withstand  transplanting  into 
the  open  field,  and  to  make  a  vigorous  start  when  so 
transplanted.  The  plants  may  be  so  uneven  as  to  re- 
quire that  part  be  covered  while  the  rest  are  exposed 
(Figs.  15,  16,  17),  but  usually  the  entire  covering  is 
removed  (Fig.  19)  after  the  sun  is  well  up,  but  is  spread 


RAISING   SEED.  163 

again  at  night,  until  all  danger  of  cold  or  frost  is  past. 
The  bed  must  be  kept  clean  and  free  from  weeds,  and 
well  watered. 

The  aim  of  the  grower  is  to  raise  early,  strong  and 
stocky  plants,  and  not  those  of  a  weak  or  spindling  na- 
ture. It  is  a  good  plan  to  have  two  or  three  beds 
planted  at  intervals  of  a  few  days.  This  ensures  plenty 
of  plants,  und  also  meets  the  possibilities  of  the  season. 
If  the  season  opens  early,  those  from  the  first  bed  can  be 
used ;  if  later,  those  from  the  second  or  third  bed. 
Plants  from  the  later  beds  are  just  what  are  wanted  for 
resetting. 

A  bed  ten  yards  square,  if  well  prepared,  should  set 
six  or  seven  acres.  But  it  is  always  safe  to  prepare 
double  the  area  or  number  of  seed  beds  thought  to  be 
necessary,  for  no  tobacco  grower  ever  regrets  having  a 
surplus  of  plants ;  in  that  case,  he  may  select  the  best. 
For  transplanting  to  old  land,  the  plants  should  be 
larger  than  for  new  land. 

RAISING   THE   BEST   TOBACCO   SEED. 

To  raise  good  tobacco  requires,  in  the  first  place, 
good  seed.  This  is  more  essential  in  tobacco  than  any 
other  crop,  because  the  range  of  types,  grades  and  prices 
is  wider  in  this  than  any  other  crop.  And  the  seed 
controls  all  these  as  much,  if  not  more,  than  any  other 
one  factor.  Tobacco,  apparently,  has  a  natural  inclina- 
tion to  depart  from  a  fixed  type  and  break  into  sub-vari- 
eties, thus  adjusting  itself  to  the  climate  and  soil  in 
which  it  is  placed.  Moreover,  the  pollen  is  easily  dis- 
seminated, and  may  be  carried  half  a  mile  or  more,  caus- 
ing much  crossing  where  several  varieties  are  grown 
near  together.  To  grow  good  seed  requires  time  and 
patience,  but  it  will  pay  better  than  any  other  work 
done  on  the  crop.  Seed  is  often  saved  from  any  well- 
growing  plant,  regardless  of  the  chances  of  cross-fertili- 


164  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

zation,  in  a  careless,  shiftless  way,  resulting  in  much 
confusion  of  varieties  and  a  great  lowering  of  quality. 
This  is  all  wrong,  but  it  is  the  general  practice  at  the 
South,  and  too  often  done  at  the  North.  There  are  a 
few  farms  in  the  United  States  that  make  a  specialty  of 
growing  tobacco  seed.  A  bushel  of  seed,  of  manufactur- 
ing varieties,  is  worth  from  forty  to  fifty  dollars,  but 
cigar-leaf  growers  often  pay  as  high  as  two  dollars  per 
ounce,  and  the  prices  of  cigar-leaf  seed  varies  from  fifty 
cents  to  two  dollars  and  a  quarter  per  ounce,  a  fair  average 
for  good  seed  now  being  one  dollar  per  ounce.  "  Cheap" 
seed  is  always  the  most  expensive.  The  best  growers 
cheerfully  pay  the  highest  price  for  seed  known  to  be 
pure  and  of  the  best  quality. 

The  largest,  and  possibly  the  best,  tobacco  seed 
farm  in  the  world  is  the  Eagland  seed  farm  at  South 
Boston,  Virginia.  On  this  farm  is  grown,  every  year, 
from  100  to  125  bushels  of  tobacco  seed,  which  embraces 
all  the  standard,  as  well  as  the  rare,  varieties  of  tobacco. 
The  yield  per  acre  is  from  four  to  five  bushels,  weighing 
thirty-five  pounds  per  bushel.  In  regard  to  the  vitality 
of  tobacco  seed,  it  is  curious  to  note  that  not  more  than 
75  per  cent  of  the  most  carefully  grown  seed  will  ger- 
minate. Mr.  W.  C.  Slate,  the  manager  of  the  Ragland 
tobacco  farm,  has  made  many  tests  in  this  matter,  and 
he  says  it  is  very  rare  to  find  any  seed  that  will  show  a 
larger  per  cent  of  vitality. 

The  best  way  to  secure  a  perfect  leaf  is  to  grow  the 
seed  plants  in  an  isolated  place,  removed  at  least  a 
mile  from  any  other  field  of  tobacco.  There  must  be 
several  plants  near  each  other,  so  that  the  pollen  may  be 
interchanged  between  the  flowers  of  the  different  plants. 
There  is  a  greenish  striped  worm,  much  like  the  bud 
worm,  that  feeds  upon  the  seed  pods  when  young  and 
tender.  These  worms  must  be  destroyed,  as  they  will 
make  the  pods  upon  which  they  feed  seedless.  In  turn- 


RAISING   SEED. 


165 


ing  out  plants  for  seed,  the  earliest,  the  healthiest  and 
most  vigorous  growers  should  be  selected.  The  plants 
selected  should  be  as  nearly  perfect  as  possible,  the 
stalks  firm  and  the  leaves  near  together  on  the  stalk. 
The  leaves  should  be  perfect  in  size,  shape  and  texture, 
with  small  midribs  and  veins.  When  the  plant  blos- 
soms, carefully  and  frequently  remove  all  suckers  and 
side  shoots,  leaving  only  the  large  clusters  of  flowers  at 


•25.    WATKKINU  SKT  PLANT:- 


the  top  to  produce  seed  ;  also  remove  two  or  three  of  the 
upper  leaves  to  prevent  the  plant  becoming  top-heavy. 
If  the  weather  is  windy  and  the  plant  liable  to  lean, 
drive  a  lath  near  the  plant  and  tie  the  stalk  to  it.  When 
it  has  developed  a  good  head  and  the  earliest  seed  pods 
begin  to  turn  brown,  pinch  off  all  remaining  blossoms 
and  small  seed  buds,  and  continue  to  do  so  if  any  blos- 
soms appear  later  on.  The  ideal  seed  would  be  taken 


166  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

from  the  central  cluster  of  capsules  of  a  well-developed 
and  carefully  selected  plant.  A  smaller  quantity  of  seed 
will  be  obtained,  but  it  will  be  plump  and  healthy.  The 
great  object  is  to  force  all  the  strength  of  the  plant  into 
the  production  of  a  limited  number  of  very  nice  seed, 
and  great  care  should  be  taken  to  keep  the  plant  grow- 
ing vigorously  until  this  is  attained.  If  there  is  danger 
of  early  frost,  the  plant  can  be  covered  at  night  with  a 
flour  or  grain  sack,  or  newspapers  pinned  around  it. 
Should  there  be  any  danger  of  a  freeze  before  the  seeds 
are  ripe,  wet  the  roots  and  pull  up  the  plants,  with  the 
dirt  adhering  to  the  roots,  and  carefully  place  in  a  warm, 
dry  barn,  and  the  seed  will  mature  from  the  juices  in  the 
stalk  and  roots. 

When  the  seed  is  ripe,  which  is  shown  by  the  seed 
pods  turning  brown,  cut  off  the  head  with  about  a  foot 
of  the  stalk  attached  and  hang  in  a  warm,  dry  chamber. 
When  the  bulbs  and  stalks  are  entirely  dry,  remove  the 
bulb  shell  from  the  seed,  and  carefully  winnow  it  until 
the  chaff  and  all  the  lightest  seed  are  removed.  Some, 
however,  do  not  shell  the  seed  until  wanted,  claiming 
that  it  keeps  better  in  the  pod ;  in  which  case  the  pods, 
when  dried,  are  picked  and  placed  in  a  flour  sack  or 
pasteboard  box  and  kept  in  a  warm  place  until  the  seed 
is  wanted  for  planting,  when  the  quantity  desired  is 
shelled. 

SELECTION    OF    SEED    FOR    SPECIFIC    PURPOSES. 

Some  growers  of  fine  cigar  wrappers  import  seed 
from  the  best  Vuelta  districts  of  Cuba  and  grow  it,  as 
previously  described,  for  four  years  in  succession  before 
saving  seed  for  crop  purposes,  and  then  succeed  in  rais- 
ing a  uniform  article  year  after  year.  Crops  are  never 
raised  from  freshly  imported  seed,  because  several  years 
are  necessary  to  thoroughly  acclimate  the  plant.  The 
idea  that  Havana  seed  should  be  used  only  a  few  years 


RAISING   SEED.  167 

from  importation,  that  it  deteriorates,  runs  out,  runs 
into  seedleaf,  etc.,  is  disputed  by  many  of  the  most  skill- 
ful growers  in  the  Connecticut  valley,  who  believe  that 
these  results  arise  more  from  cross-fertilization  than  from 
any  other  cause.  It  is  true  that  soil  and  climate  gradually 
change  the  size  and  fragrance  of  the  leaf  in  the  course 
of  a  long  term  of  years,  but  this  change  does  not  neces- 
sarily lessen  the  quality  of  the  leaf  for  wrappers,  if  proper 
attention  is  paid  to  raising  and  selecting  seed.  They 
believe  that  the  quality,  instead  of  deteriorating,  stead- 
ily improves  under  the  careful  cultivation  given  to  it. 
There  is  an  opinion  held  by  some  careful  growers  that  it 
is  wise  to  occasionally  get  seed  from  a  different  locality, 
say  50  or  100  miles  from  the  section  in  which  their  seed 
has  been  grown. 

TESTING  THE   VITALITY  OF   TOBACCO   SEED. 

Tobacco  seed  retains  its  vitality  for  10,  12,  and  even 
20  years,  but  many  experienced  growers  believe  it  loses 
in  vitality  after  it  is  10  years  old.  The  individual  seeds, 
however,  often  vary  in  vitality,  and  to  determine  the 
proportion  of  good  and  bad  seed,  place  pieces  of  dark 
woolen  cloth  on  an  earthen  plate,  sprinkle  some  seed 
over  these,  cover  the  whole  with  more  woolen,  moisten 
it  thoroughly  and  keep  warm  by  placing  on  a  mantel 
near  a  warm  stove.  In  time,  the  seed  will  sprout,  and 
the  proportion  of  good  seed  can  be  determined,  as  the 
sprouts  will  readily  show  against  the  dark  ground  of  the 
woolen.  Another  test  is  to  drop  some  seeds  on  a  hot 
stove,  or  other  hot  iron.  The  good  seed  will  pop  and 
hop  around  like  popcorn,  while  the  poor  will  lie  still 
and  burn.  Still  another  test  is  to  place  some  seed  in 
the  palm  of  the  hand  and  rub  it.  If  good,  the  seed  will 
feel  like  grains  of  sand,  and  if  bad,  it  will  rub  into  dust. 

The  number  of  seed  in  an  ounce  varies  with  the 
varieties  and  conditions  under  which  it  was  grown.  We 


168  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

found,  by  actual  count,  378,000  to  389,000  seed  in  one 
ounce  of  Tennessee-grown  Burley  leaf ;  each  large  seed 
pod,  when  properly  fertilized  and  fully  developed,  con- 
tained about  5000  seeds,  and  an  average  head  contained 
eighty  pods.  An  ounce  of  Havana  seedleaf  seed  grown 
in  Massachusetts  contained  287,600  seeds,  and  308,820 
were  found  in  an  ounce  of  seed  of  Havana  leaf  tobacco 
grown  at  Poquonock.  A  single  plant  can  produce  seed 
enough  to  set  250  acres,  if  all  the  seed  germinated  and 
the  plants  all  thrived. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

TRANSPLANTING. 

The  field  having  been  properly  prepared  to  receive 
the  plants,  according  to  the  directions  for  the  various 
kinds  of  tobacco,  given  in  later  chapters,  the  work  of 
transplanting  requires  the  utmost  care.  Carelessness 
and  neglect  here  are  certain  to  tell  seriously  on  the 
results  of  the  crop.  To  avoid  tramping  down  the  bed, 
while  pulling  plants,  it  is  a  good  idea  to  have  a  board  as 
long  as  the  bed  is  wide,  this  board  to  be  one  foot  wide 
and  one  and  one-half  inches  thick.  Put  short  legs  in 
each  end  and  one  in  the  center,  this  making  a  low  bench 
to  stand  upon  that  will  keep  one  off  the  bed,  while 
pulling  and  weeding. 

The  most  careful  hands  are  set  to  work  to  draw  the 
plants  from  the  beds.  In  removing  plants,  wet  the  bed 
thoroughly,  unless  this  has  just  been  done  by  a  good 
rain ;  take  a  common,  two-tined  dinner  fork,  or  a  stick 
sharpened  to  a  point  at  one  end ;  run  this  down  by  suit- 
able sized  plants  and  loosen  them  by  gently  prying 
under  them.  The  plants  should  be  drawn  one  at  a  time, 
so  as  to  leave  the  smaller  ones  uninjured  in  the  bed  for 
future  planting,  and  so  as  not  to  injure  the  rootlets  of 
the  plants  taken.  In  drawing  the  plant,  never  catch  by 
the  stem  or  on  the  heart  or  bud,  but  always  by  the 
leaves  above  the  bud.  If  the  leaves  are  slightly  bruised, 
it  will  not  hurt  the  plants,  as  the  leaves  come  off  any 
way.  Don't  pull  the  plants  one  day  and  set  them  the 
next,  as  they  will  grow  crooked  and  never  do  well.  As 
the  plants  are  drawn,  they  are  laid  down  in  straight 
169 


170 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


piles,  the  roots  being  all  kept  together.  After  this  they 
are  carefully  placed  in  baskets,  or  in  the  bed  of  a  wagon, 
or  in  a  transplanting  machine,  and  taken  to  the  field. 
The  plant  beds,  after  the  first  drawing  of  plants,  de- 
mand some  attention  and  care.  Should  the  weather  be 
dry  and  hot,  they  should  be  generously  sprinkled  with 
water  thickened  with  cow  manure,  late  every  afternoon. 
For  a  few  days  it  will  be  well  to  keep  the  canvas  cover- 
ing on  the  bed,  for  many  small  plants,  being  partially 


FIG.  26.   OLD  STYLE  SOUTHERN  TOBACCO  BARN. 

From  a  photograph  taken  in  Kentucky. 

uptorn  in  drawing  those  beside  them,  need  to  be  re- 
established. 

The  Manner  of  Setting  by  Hand. — A  dropper 
with  a  basket  of  convenient  size  goes  in  advance,  drop- 
ping plants  upon  each  hill  in  two  rows.  Two  setters, 
or  planters,  follow,  each  taking  one  row,  see  Figs.  21 
and  22.  A  smooth,  round  peg,  eight  inches  long  and 
from  one  inch  to  one  and  one-half  inches  in  diameter, 


TRANSPLANTING. 


171 


made  of  some  hard  seasoned  wood,  with  a  rounded 
point,  is  used  for  making  a  hole  in  the  hill,  of  proper 
depth  and  size.  The  plant  is  then  placed  in  position 
and  the  soil  pressed  compactly  about  the  roots  by  the 
pressure  of  the  planting  peg  against  one  side  of  the 
hole.  The  use  of  a  hand  plant  is  very  convenient  to 
the  setter  of  tobacco.  When  he  begins,  he  takes  an 
extra  plant  in  his  left  hand  and  adjusts  its  roots  down- 


FIG.  27.     FIRST  IMPROVEMENT  ON  OLD  STYLE  SHOWN  IN  FIG.  26. 

ward,  while  he  is  making  the  hole  for  the  plant  with  the 
peg  in  his  right  hand.  When  this  hand  plant  has  been 
set  in  the  first  hill,  he  takes  up  the  plant  dropped  on 
that  hill  and  passes  to  the  second,  adjusting  in  his  left 
hand  as  he  moves  from  the  first  to  the  second  hill, 
so  as  to  be  ready  to  thrust  the  roots  into  the  hole  made 
in  the  second  hill.  The  plant  on  the  second  hill  in  like 
manner  is  carried  to  the  third.  Such  an  extra  plant  is 


172  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

called  a  "hand  plant"  and  greatly  facilitates  the  work 
of  transplanting. 

The  test  applied  to  determine  the  thoroughness  of 
the  work  is  to  catch  the  top  of  a  leaf,  and  pull  it.  If 
the  tip  breaks,  the  work  is  well  done ;  if  the  plant  is 
drawn  up  from  the  ground,  it  is  evident  that  the  plant- 
ing has  been  imperfectly  performed.  Careful  planting 
is  very  essential  to  insure  a  good  stand  and  a  ready 
growth.  If  the  whole  field  is  carefully  set  with  plants 
of  uniform  size,  and  the  soil  is  of  uniform  fertility,  and 
the  cutworms  are  not  troublesome,  the  very  best  con- 


FIG.  28.     IMPROVED  LOG  BARN  WITH  NIPPED  SHED. 

ditions  are   secured  for  raising  a  crop   of   tobacco  of 
uniform  quality  and  size. 

After  setting,  water  the  plants,  unless  the  field  is 
too  large.  Watering  should  be  done  late  in  the  day  or 
early  in  the  morning,  Fig.  25.  If  properly  set  and 
watered,  nine  out  of  ten  will  live.  Some  sbade  the 
plants  with  short  grass  or  leaves,  but  on  large  fields  this 
is  impossible.  If  it  rains  soon  after  they  are  set,  or  if 
the  ground  is  quite  wet,  the  plants  will  soon  take  root 
and  commence  growing.  If  irrigation  is  possible,  apply 
the  water  after  transplanting,  if  soil  is  dry.  Much  de- 
pends upon  having  a  good  setting.  If  there  are  not 


TRANSPLANTING.  173 

plants  enough,  get  them  somewhere  else,  if  you  can 
(they  can  generally  be  obtained  for  from  fifty  cents  to 
one  dollar  per  1000),  if  you  have  a  good  time  for  set- 
ting. They  will  generally  wilt  down  during  the  day, 
but  if  they  look  fresh  in  the  morning,  they  will  do  well. 
A  little  plaster  sprinkled  on  the  leaves  helps  them  at 
this  time.  Watering  is  almost  essential  if  the  plants 
are  becoming  too  large  in  the  beds.  When  it  can  be 
done  economically,  watering  is  preferred  by  many 
planters. 

Eeplanting  of  the  missing  hills  ought  to  be  done 
just  as  early  after  they  are  found  as  possible.  Larger 
plants  should  be  used  for  this  purpose,  and  the  greatest 


FIG.  29.     MODERN  FRAMED  BARN,  CL.ARK8VILLE  DISTRICT  HEAVY  LEAF. 

effort  should  be  made  to  give  to  every  plant  in  the  field 
an  even  start.  Watering  with  liquid  manure  will  help 
the  backward  plants.  Don't  make  the  liquid  too 
strong;  the  leach  from  a  manure  pile,  diluted  with 
water,  is  good  ;  or  a  teaspoonful  of  sulphate  of  ammonia 
and  two  spoonfuls  of  sulphate  of  potash  dissolved  in 
warm  water  and  added  to  a  barrel  of  water. 

Machine  Set  Plants. — A  much  more  expeditious, 
and  in  every  way  satisfactory,  method  of  setting  is  to  use 
a  transplanting  machine.  It  is  a  great  labor-saving  de- 
vice, and  enables  the  grower  to  plant  a  much  larger  area 
for  the  same,  or  even  less,  expense.  A  transplanter  is  a 


174 


TOBACCO    LEAF. 


two-wheeled  machine  drawn  by  two  horses,  but  such  a 
machine  cannot  be  used  where  there  are  small  stones 
or  undecomposed  vegetable  matter  on  the  ground.  The 
land  must  be  clean.  It  requires  one  man  to  drive  and 
two  boys  to  drop  the  plants.  It  plants  one  row  at  a 
time  and  can  set  from  3  to  6  acres  per  day,  the  amount 
set  depending  on  the  skill  of  the  droppers  and  the  space 
between  the  plants.  In  a  few  hours,  operators  of  average 
intelligence  will  learn  how  to  do  good  work,  and  in  a 
few  days  very  fast  work.  Plants  are  set  with  mathe- 
matical regularity  at  any  desired  distance,  15,  18,  23  or 
30  inches  apart.  The  machine  carries  a  supply  of  water, 


FIG.  30.   END  VIEW  OF  FKAMED  BARN. 

and  the  roots  of  each  plant  are  thoroughly  wet  below 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  while  being  set.  This  in- 
sures a  far  better  start  than  can  be  obtained  by  hand 
setting,  and,  moreover,  the  grower  is  independent  of  the 
weather,  and  can  set  his  plants  whenever  the  land  is  pre- 
pared, regardless  of  rains.  Machine-set  tobacco  plants 
start  quicker,  and  grow  and  mature  more  evenly  and 
quickly  than  hand-set  plants.  The  machine  can  also 
be  used  for  setting  cabbage,  strawberry,  tomato  and 
many  other  plants.  Some  of  these  machines  make  it 
unnecessary  either  to  lay  off  the  land  in  rows  or  to  make 


TRANSPLANTING.  175 

the  hills  with  a  hoe.  We  have  been  fortunate  enough 
to  obtain  a  fine  photograph  of  the  Bemis  transplanter, 
from  which  Fig.  23  was  engraved,  which  shows  most 
clearly  the  modus  operandi  of  this  useful  machine, 
which  may  be  used  with  or  without  fertilizer  attach- 
ment. It  is  such  a  saver  of  work,  time  and  money,  that 
the  transplanter  is  destined  to  come  into  universal  use. 


G 

3 
J 

A 

B 

ntl 

*—    'hK^,   -—     <iih  K^  •=-   dt("    Ti^.—  ii1-     ~-(^kl!11' 

N 

4O  PT  .  . 

> 

•  TVJ  r  i 
D 

^3 

FIG.  31.   GROUND  PLAN  OF  MOOEKN  FKAMKU  BAKN   SHOWN  IN 
FIGS.  29  AND  30. 

When  the  land  is  prepared  for  using  this  machine,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  harrow  it  until  it  is  finely  pulverized, 
then  roll  or  firm  the  soil  with  a  planker.  It  is  better 
for  the  ground  not  to  be  very  moist  when  it  is  used,  as 
the  heavy  driving  wheels,  in  that  case,  compact  the 
soil  too  much.  Where  the  ground  is  very  loose,  or  ashy 
dry,  the  work  will  not  be  so  good.  A  field  laid  out  in 


176 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


model  style  for  transplanting  by  machine  is  shown  in 
Fig.  24. 

Time  of  Transplanting. — When  this  work~is  done 
hy  hand  at  the  South,  or  in  the  shipping  tobacco 
districts,  it  is  customary  to  wait  for  gentle  spring  rains, 
or  a  "season,"  as  it  is  called,  to  put  the  land  in  moist 
condition  to  permit  the  transfer  of  the  plants  from  the 
seed  bed  to  the  fields  without  endangering  their  vitality. 
Usually,  in  the  great  shipping  tobacco  districts,  the 
first  general  planting  is  done  about  the  10th  to  the  20th 
of  May.  In  the  yellow-tobacco  districts  of  eastern 
North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina,  tobacco  is  often  set 


FIG.  32.     ANOTHER  STYLE  OF  FRAME. 

in  April.  If  the  weather  should  be  seasonable,  with 
gentle  showers,  drawings  from  the  bed  may  be  made 
once  a  week.  It  is  the  greatest  folly  to  set  out  small 
plants  on  old  land  after  the  first  of  June,  unless  the 
ground  is  very  moist,  in  the  latitude  of  Kentucky,  Vir- 
ginia, Tennessee  and  North  Carolina.  After  that 
period,  very  vigorous,  stocky  plants  must  be  used.  It  is 
more  and  more  becoming  the  custom  among  the  best 
growers  to  have  plants  enough  to  set  out  the  entire  crop 
the  first  "season"  that  comes  after  they  are  large 
enough. 


TRANSPLANTING. 


177 


Some  southern  planters  do  not  wait  for  a  "season." 
During  the  month  of  May,  tobacco  plants  may  be  set  out 
in  freshly  made  hills  late  every  afternoon,  with  fair 
chances  of  living.  If  the  dirt  is  pressed  closely  to  the 
roots  with  the  fingers,  and  if  the  leaves  are  pulled  to- 
gether over  the  bud,  and  the  dirt  pulled  up  around  them, 
19  out  of  20  plants  will  live  and  thrive.  New  lands,  when 
well  prepared,  may  be  set  out  at  any  time.  Very  small 
plants  will  live  on  such  lands  that  would  perish  on  old 
lands.  If  possible,  throughout  the  great  heavy  shipping 
districts  in  all  the  States,  this  crop  should  be  planted  not 
later  than  the  10th  of  June,  though  many  will  plant  as 


FIG.  33.     WELL    BRACED   FRAME. 

late  as  the  1st  of  July.  Such  late -planting  rarely  proves 
satisfactory  or  profitable.  It  ought  to  be  remembered 
that  "a  bud  in  May  is  worth  a  plant  in  ^June."  The 
later  the  planting  is  deferred  after  the  25th  of  May  in 
Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  the  more  difficult  it  is  to  get  a 
"stand,"  and  the  risk  of  making  a  good  crop  increases 
more  and  more  as  the  season  advances. 

This  last  remark  is  equally  true  in  setting  tobacco 
for  cigar  wrappers  and  fillers  at  the  North.     Then  the 
best  time  to  transplant  must  be  governed  by  circum- 
stances.    Between  June  5th  and  20th  is  the  best  time 
12 


178 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


in  southern  New  England,  in  an  ordinary  season,  also  in 
New  York  and  Wisconsin.  Earlier  planting  than  June 
5th  rarely  gives  as  large  growth  of  leaf,  or  as  fine  qual- 
ities in  the  cured  leaf,  or  as  large  a  yield  per  acre,  as 
plants  set  during  the  medium  season.  The  plant  needs 
the  most  favorable  portion  of 
the  growing  season  in  which 
to  develop  to  ad  vantage.  The 
warm  nights  of  early  August 
Sare  especially  favorable  to  the 
production  of  the  crop,  and 
the  more  advanced  settings 
have  so  far  matured,  at  this 

0  season,  as  not  to  receive  the 
greatest  benefits.     Again,  the 

1  condition  of  the  weather  dur- 
ing  the    curing    season    has 
much  to  do  with  the  outcome 

FIG.  34.  END  OF  FRAME  SHOWN  of  the  crop .     Very  early  to- 
IN  FIG.  33.  bacco  must  be  housed  propor- 

tionally early,  and  at  a  season  marked  at  the  North  by 
hot,  dry  weather,  which  causes  the  leaf  to  dry,  rather 
than  cure  ;  and  it  also  runs  greater  risk  of  pole  sweat. 
On  the  other  hand,  late-set  tobacco  is  liable  to  be  dam- 
aged by  early  frosts ;  it  has  the  advantage  that  it 
doesn't  have  to  contend  with  the  cutworm,  which 
usually  disappears  early  in  July.  About  the  10th  of 
June  is  usually  the  best  time  in  New  England,  New 
York  and  Wisconsin,  or  a  week  or  ten  days  earlier  in 
Pennsylvania  and  Ohio.  Tobacco  will  then  ripen  while 
the  nights  are  cool,  and  the  leaf  will  have  greater  body, 
character  and  weight. 

In  the  extreme  South,  or  with  certain  varieties  of 
tobacco,  the  time  for  setting  is  quite  different,  as  stated 
in  connection  with  those  topics. 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

TOBACCO   BAKNS   AND    SHEDS. 

The  gradual  improvement  in  the  style,  convenience 
and  character  of  tobacco  barns  and  sheds  during  the 
past  thirty  years  is  very  marked  in  all  the  tobacco-grow- 
ing districts  of  the  United  States.  It  was  an  unusual 
thing,  at  that  date,  to  see  any  other  structure  in  the 
heavy-tobacco  growing  region  for  the  hanging  and  cur- 
ing of  tobacco,  except  a  pen  built  with  logs,  which  was 
often  shedded  with  a  hip  roof,  leaving  the  sheds  open. 
Fig.  26  gives  a  good  idea  of  these  old-fashioned  barns. 
In  the  cigar-leaf  sections,  also,  the  crop,  in  early  times, 
was  hung  to  dry  and  cure  in  any  vacant  shed  or  barn,  or 
unused  stalls.  But  with  the  progress  of  the  crop,  these 
haphazard  arrangements  have  been  superseded  by  sub- 
stantial buildings  known  as  tobacco  sheds  or  barns,  that 
are  constructed  for  the  sole  purpose  of  hanging  and  cur- 
ing tobacco.  But  it  will  be  seen,  from  the  portions  of 
this  work  on  the  curing  of  the  various  kinds  of  leaf, 
that  the  perfect  structure  is  yet  to  be  devised,  though 
for  its  purposes  Snow's  modern  barn  is  certainly  a  great 
step  in  advance. 

BARNS  FOR   HEAVY   LEAF  AND   MANUFACTURING 
TOBACCO. 

The  size  of  the  old  log  barns  in  the  South  varied 
from  twenty  to  twenty-four  feet  square  on  the  inside, 
containing  five  to  six  "rooms."  A  "room"  is  the  ver- 
tical space  included  between  two  sets  of  tier  poles  ex- 
tending from  bottom  to  top.  These  tier  poles  are  placed 
179 


180 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


TOBACCO    BARNS   AND    SHEDS.  181 

about  three  feet  ten  inches  apart  horizontally,  and  three 
feet  apart  vertically.  The  log  barns  were  usually  built 
high  enough  to  contain  five  of  these  tiers,  besides  those 
in  the  roof.  Many  of  these  log  barns  were  chinked  and 
daubed  with  mud  all  the  way  to  the  top,  the  only  opening 
left  being  a  window  in  each  of  the  gable  ends.  Other 
farmers  preferred  to  have  the  cracks  between  the  logs 
closed  only  as  high  as  the  first  set  of  tier  poles.  When 
the  firing  is  kept  up  to  a  good  degree  of  heat  for  three 
or  four  days,  the  tight  barns  are  unquestionably  the  best, 
but  where  the  firing  is  gentle,  the  barns  should  be  open, 
otherwise  there  will  be  injury  to  the  tobacco  from  "  house 
burn,"  which  is  a  breaking  down  of  the  vesicular  system 
through  the  effects  of  heat  and  moisture — a  partial  decom- 
position of  the  leaf,  which  destroys  the  oily  and  gummy 
matter  and  renders  the  tobacco  nearly  worthless. 

The  body  of  a  barn  that  is  twenty-four  feet  square 
will  contain  thirty  tiers  for  firing,  six  across  and  five 
high.  The  sticks  are  usually  placed  eight  inches  apart, 
so  each  tier  will  hold  thirty  sticks.  The  body  of  such  a 
barn,  not  including  the  roof  tiers,  is  capable  of  holding 
1080  sticks  of  tobacco.  The  roof  tiers,  or  collar  beams 
as  they  are  called,  hold  from  200  to  250  sticks  more, 
according  to  the  pitch  of  the  roof.  This  makes  the 
entire  capacity  of  such  a  building  about  1300  sticks, 
each  containing  eight  plants,  thus  giving  room  enough 
to  house  about  three  acres  of  tobacco.  The  lowest  tier 
upon  which  the  green  tobacco  is  put  is  about  eight  or 
nine  feet  from  the  floor.  Sometimes  a  set  of  tier  poles 
is  arranged  below  those  containing  tobacco,  but  this  is 
done  for  convenience  of  standing  upon  when  lifting  the 
tobacco  to  the  higher  tiers.  A  barn  five  tiers  high  in 
the  body  and  20  feet  square  will  hold  about  900  sticks, 
or  it  has  the  capacity  to  house  two  acres  of  tobacco. 
One  built  16  feet  square  and  four  tiers  high  and  wide 
will  house  about  one  acre  of  tobacco. 


182 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


FIG.  36.     CUBING  BABN  FOB  YELLOW  TOBACCO. 


TOBACCO   BARKS   AND    SHEDS. 


183 


Originally,  barns  were  built  of  round  logs,  about 
ten  inches  through,  but  such  were  not  durable  and  soon 
rotted  down.  The  first  improvement  was  to  hew  the 
logs  and  extend  the  roof,  so  as  to  give  protection  to  the 
sides,  and  hoods  were  put  on  the  ends  for  the  same  pur- 
pose, as  shown  in  Fig.  27.  Two  of  these  pens  were 
sometimes  built  with  a  passageway  between.  The  next 
improvement  was  to  build  hipped-roofed  sheds  around 


FIG.  37.     FIVE-TIER  SIX-ROOM    BARN,  FOR  YELLOW  TOBACCO. 

the  single  log  pen  (see  Fig.  28).  These  sheds  fully 
doubled  the  capacity  of  the  barns.  They  were  generally 
12  to  15  feet  wide.  A  shed  12  feet  wide,  if  built  around 
a  pen  24  feet  square,  has  36  ground  tiers  12  feet  long, 
and  if  the  shed  is  built  three  tiers  high,  such  a  building 
will  provide  118  firing  tiers,  besides  the  collar  beams, 
which  will  be  equivalent  to  18  additional  ones,  making 
136  tiers.  A  shed  so  built  is  capable  of  holding  2448 


184  TOBACCO  LEAP. 


FIG.  38.     FIVE-ROOM  FIVE-TIER  BARN,  FOR  YELLOW  LEAF. 


TOBACCO   BAEKS   AND    SHEDS. 


185 


sticks  of  tobacco.  This,  added  to  the  capacity  of  the 
pen,  will  give  a  total  capacity  of  3748  sticks,  equal  to 
the  housing  of  between  eight  and  nine  acres  of  tobacco. 
In  the  heavy-shipping  districts  of  Kentucky,  Vir- 
ginia and  Tennessee,  very  few  log  barns  are  now  built. 
They  are  more  troublesome  to  build  than  framed  barns, 


FIG.  39.       FLUES     FOR     CURING     YELLOW    LEAF,  USED     IN     THE     BARNS 
SHOWN  IN  FIGS.  36  AND  37. 

and  cannot  be  provided  with  so  many  conveniences.  At 
present,  framed  barns  are  constructed  of  all  dimensions, 
from  20  to  48  feet  square,  with  doors  entering  through 
the  three  divisions  of  the  barns  high  and  wide  enough 
to  pass  through  with  a  loaded  wagon.  Figs.  29,  30  ana 
31  give  a  good  idea  of  a  modern  framed  barn  in  the 


186 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


heavy-tobacco  regions.  The  passageways  are  ahout  12£ 
feet  wide  between  the  sills,  though  from  outside  to  out- 
side is  40  feet.  These  passage  ways  are  separated  by 
sills  set  on  stone  pillars.  The  posts  set  on  the 
outside  sills  are  15  feet  high,  capped  by  a  stout  plate 
4x6  inches.  At  the  hight  of  nine  feet  from  the  level  of 
the  sill,  the  first  set  of  girders,  4x3  inches,  is  let  in  the 
posts  from  the  outside.  The  second  set  of  girders  is 
placed  three  feet  above  the  first,  and  the  plate,  which 
answers  in  the  place  of  a  girder,  three  feet  higher  on 


FIG.  40.     CIGAR    LEAF    BARN. 

The  type  most  commonly  used  in  the  Connecticut  valley. 

the  top  of  the  outside  set  of  posts.  The  two  sets  of 
posts  set  on  the  inside  sills  are  21  feet  high,  and  girders 
are  let  in  at  9,  12,  15  and  18  feet  from  the  level  of  the 
sills,  and  stout  plates  put  on  the  top  of  these  central 
parts.  Tier  poles  are  arranged  3  feet  10  inches  apart  on 
the  girders.  Between  the  high  central  posts  there  are 
10  tiers  arranged  horizontally  and  5  vertically,  besides 
the  collar  beams  in  the  roof,  thus  giving  50  tier  poles  in 
the  center  of  the  barn  and  10  collar  beams,  each  of  the 
latter  7  feet  long. 


TOBACCO   BAKNS   AND    SHEDS. 


187 


VIG.  41.     CROSS-SECTION    OF 
BAKN  SHOWN  IX   FIG.  40. 


On  each  side  there  will  be  10  tier  poles  arranged 
horizontally  and  three  vertically,  giving  for  both  sides 
60  tier  poles  13  feet  long.  Add  the  collar  beams,  which 
will  average  about  half  the  length  of  the  tier  poles,  and 
there  will  be  10  additional  ones.  These,  all  added  to- 
gether, will  give  125  tiers,  ca- 
pable of  holding  each  about  20 
sticks,  making  the  capacity  of 
such  a  barn  about  2500  sticks, 
or  with  room  enough  to  house 
about  six  acres  of  heavy  tobacco.  c 
In  such  a  barn,  doors  are  made  B 
to  enter  between  the  four  sets 
of  sills.  Thic  makes  a  great 
convenience  in  driving  a  load  of 
tobacco  immediately  under  the 
tiers  to  be  filled.  There  are  no  end  sills.  The  planks, 
or  boards,  for  inclosing  the  barn  are  nailed  to  the  sills, 
girders  and  plates.  In  arranging  the  tier  poles,  which 
are  3x4  inches,  every  alternate  one  should  rest  on  the 
girder  beside  a  post,  the  posts  on  the  sides  of  the  barn 
being  eight  feet  apart.  The  tier  poles  are  arranged  per- 
pendicular to  the  sides.  The 
entire  cost  of  such  a  barn  is 
about  $250  to  $300,  varying 
somewhat  according  to  the  prices 
of  lumber  and  the  wages  of 
rough  carpenters. 

Many  barns  are  constructed 
without  any  sills  whatever,  the 
posts  resting  upon  flat  rocks.  These  seem  to  be  as  dur- 
able as  those  in  which  sills  are  used.  The  bracing  must 
be  well  done,  however.  Several  of  this  style  are  shown 
in  Figs.  32,  33  and  34. 

A  method  of  building  barns  with  excavations,  or 
cellars,  has  recently  been  practiced  in  some  of  the  heavy 


SECTIONAL  VIEW. 


188  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

tobacco  districts.  A  log  or  framed  barn  is  erected,  with 
the  first  tier  poles  put  in  about  three  feet  from  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground.  The  center  is  then  excavated  to  the 
depth  of  seven  or  eight  feet.  It  is  claimed  that  the  fires 
built  in  the  bottom  of  such  an  excavation  or  cellar  may 
be  better  regulated,  that  they  are  not  disturbed  by 


FIG.  43.      BASEMENT  OF    SNOW    BARN,   SHOWING    STOVES    SET  IN  BRICK 
ARCHES,   AND  PIPES  THROUGH  WHICH  HOT  AIR  IS  DISTRIBUTED. 

winds,  and  that  the  danger  of  setting  the  barn  on  fire  is 
greatly  lessened.  A  large  amount  of  valuable  space  is 
secured  also.  It  is  likewise  claimed  that  the  moisture 
arising  from  the  cellar  will  bring  the  tobacco  in  condi- 
tion to  be  handled  without  the  necessity  of  waiting  for 
rains  or  humid  weather. 

Experiments  made  as  to  the  best  localities  for  build- 
ing barns  justify  the  conclusion  that  low  places,  free 


TOBACCO   BARNS  AND    SHEDS. 


189 


from  overflows  or  standing  water,  are  to  be  preferred. 
High  situations  dry  out  tobacco  too  rapidly,  and  it  is 
much  more  difficult  in  such  places  to  have  the  cured 
product  come  into  uniform  condition  for  handling. 
Land  sloping  to  the  east  is  thought  to  be  a  good  situa- 
tion for  a  barn,  if  furnaces  are  to  be  used  for  curing  the 


3WE 


FIG.  44.      ELEVATION  SNOW  BARN. 

tobacco.  The  reason  for  such  a  selection  is  that  the 
western  winds  are  most  prevalent  during  the  curing  sea- 
son, and  the  smoke  issuing  from  the  chimneys  or  flues 
should  be  blown  away  from  the  barn. 

In  the  White  Burley  district  all  the  tobacco  is  air 
cured,  and  the  tobacco  houses  are,  or  should  be,  so  con- 
structed that  the  air  may  be  freely  admitted  or  excluded, 


190 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


as  the  necessity  of  the  case  may  demand.  Many  of  the 
barns  of  that  region,  however,  are  built  of  logs,  but  are 
not  chinked  or  daubed.  They  are  poorly  fitted  for  cur- 


FIO.  45.     INTERIOR  OF   SNOW  BARN. 

ing  fine  tobacco,  as  it  is  exposed  very  much  to  beating 
rains  or  drifting  snows,  and  to  the  damaging  effects  of 
winds.  The  best  Burley  planters  are  discarding  such 


TOBACCO   BAKNS  AND    SHEDS.  191 

barns  and  are  erecting  frame  barns,  like  that  in  Fig.  35, 
with  such  conveniences  and  appliances  as  will  enable 
them  to  regulate  the  curing.  In  damp  weather,  it  is 
the  practice  to  give  all  the  ventilation  possible  by  open- 
ing all  the  doors  and  windows ;  in  dry  weather,  close  the 
barn  during  the  day,  and  open  at  night.  Too  much 
wet  weather  or  too  much  dry  weather  is  equally  hurtful 
in  curing  tobacco.  It  is  very  necessary  that  the  ventila- 


FIG.  46.     ONONDAGA   TOBACCO  BARN. 

tiori  of  the  building  should  be  under  perfect  control 
while  the  process  of  curing  is  going  on. 

The  tobacco  barns  in  common  use  for  curing  yellow 
tobacco  by  means  of  flues  are  very  inexpensive  and  sim- 
ple in  construction.  They  are  usually  built  of  logs  or 
poles  cut  from  the  woods.  Sometimes  these  logs  are 
hewn,  but  oftener  they  are  put  up  with  the  bark  on 
them.  It  requires  about  68  logs,  or  17  on  a  side,  to 
build  a  barn  with  four  firing  tiers  in  the  body.  The 
logs  are  large  enough  so  that  one  of  them,  including  the 


192  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

space  between  the  logs,  will  raise  the  barn  a  foot  in 
hight.  A  barn  with  four  firing  tiers  will  therefore  be 
17  feet  high.  When  the  barn  is  five  firing  tiers  high  it 
requires  80  logs  for  its  construction. 

The  first  firing  tiers  are  usually  put  nine  feet  from 
the  ground,  and  the  remaining  tiers  about  two  feet  and 
nine  inches  apart  vertically.  Ground  tiers  are  some- 
times put  below  the  first  firing  tiers,  for  convenience  in 


FIG.  47.     AN  ELABORATE  PENNSYLVANIA  BA11N. 

elevating  and  taking  down  the  tobacco.  Usually,  there 
are  one  or  two  tiers  in  the  roof.  When  there  are  four 
rooms,  or  four  vertical  spaces,  between  the  tier  poles, 
the  logs  are  cut  about  17  feet  long.  When  there  are 
five  rooms,  the  length  of  the  logs  is  21  feet,  and  for  six 
rooms  25  feet  long.  Fig.  3(5  is  a  barn  with  four  rooms 
four  tiers  high,  with  ground  tiers.  Fig.  37  represents 


TOBACCO  BARNS  AND   SHEDS.  193 

a  barn  five  tiers  high,  with  six  rooms.  Fig.  38  contains 
five  rooms  five  tiers  high. 

The  most  approved  barn  in  size  is  one  with  four 
firing  tiers  in  hight,  and  the  same  in  width.  In  the 
"rooms"  next  to  the  walls,  tier  poles  are  put  which  lie 
against  the  walls.  This  is  preferable  to  nailing  a  strip 
on  the  walls  to  support  the  ends  of  the  sticks  holding 
the  tobacco  plants. 

The  barns  are  not  always  square.  It  is  necessary 
that  one  of  the  inside  dimensions,  or  rather  the  width 
of  the  barn  on  the  inside,  should  be  some  multiplier  of 
four  in  feet,  so  as  to  accommodate  the  width  of  the 
rooms  to  the  length  of  the  sticks,  but  the  length  of  the 
tier  poles  need  not  be  so  restricted.  Some  barns  are 
therefore  constructed  16,  20  or  24  feet  in  width  in  the 


Y~V\ 


FIG.  48.  HANGER  FOB  LEAVES  IN  SNOW  BARN. 

interior,  but  they  may  be  of  any  reasonable  length  in 
the  direction  in  which  the  tier  poles  run.  Many  plant- 
ers prefer  barns  five  tiers  wide  and  five  high  and  of  equal 
width  and  length,  with  the  door  on  the  side  and  the 
furnaces  and  smoke  escape  pipe  on  the  end. 

Barns  built  of  round  logs  are  chinked  and  daubed 
with  mud.  If  the  logs  are  hewn,  after  the  cracks  are 
chinked  they  are  usually  pointed  with  a  mortar  made  of 
lime  and  sand.  This  latter  manner  of  closing  the  spaces 
between  the  logs,  while  much  neater  in  appearance,  is 
not  so  effective  in  making  the  structures  tight  as  when 
the  cracks  are  closed  with  mud. 

A  square  barn  containing  four  firing  tiers  and  four 
rooms  in  the  body,  will  hold  500  sticks  of  tobacco,  or 
3000  plants.  One  with  five  firing  tiers  and  five  rooms 
13 


194 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


will  hold  between  700  and  800  sticks,  or  from  4200  to 
4800  plants. 

Flues  are  variously  arranged.  The  illustration 
given  in  Fig.  39  shows  the  arrangement  most  commonly 
used.  Two  holes  are  cut  in  one  end  of  the  barn,  36 
inches  wide  and  some  three  feet  high.  These  openings 
must  be  18  to  20  inches  from  the  side  walls  of  the  barn, 
as  at  e  e  e  e  in  Fig.  39.  Brick  or  stone  is  used  for 
the  furnaces,  which  are  built  with  walls  18  inches  apart, 
20  inches  in  hight  at  the  openings,  a  a,  and  arched. 
The  spaces  above  the  arches  are  closed  with  brick  and 


FIG.  49.     PATENT  VENTILATED  BARN,  WISCONSIN. 

mortar.  These  furnaces  project  on  the  outside  18 
inches,  and  are  extended  on  the  inside  some  three  feet. 
The  lateral  walls  of  the  furnaces  should  be  extended 
around  from  b  to  c  and  covered  with  sheet  iron.  At 
c  c,  flues  made  of  iron  pipe  10  to  12  inches  in  diameter 
are  inserted,  with  a  gentle  inclination  upward,  so  as  to 
insure  draught.  They  come  out  of  the  barn  two  feet 
higher  at  d  d  than  they  are  at  c  c.  No.  16  sheet  iron 


TOBACCO   BARNS  AND    SHEDS. 


195 


should  be  used  for  covering  the  brick  flues  for  a  short 
distance,  and  then  No.  18  or  20  will  suffice. 

Recently  the  flues  have  been  greatly  simplified  and 
are  now  made  of  iron  pipe  from  10  to  15  inches  in  diam- 
eter. The  flues  run  continuously  from  b  to  c  and  from 
c  to  d,  coming  out  on  the  side  of  the  barn  where  the 
furnaces  are  fed  and  some  three  feet  higher  than  the 
furnaces.  Sometimes  there  is  only  one  pipe  for  convey- 
ing the  smoke  outside  the  barn.  In  this  case,  the  gap 
between  c  and  c  is  filled  with  a  flue  pipe,  into  which  a 
single  pipe  for  the  escape  of  the  smoke  is  inserted.  Or 


FIG.  50.     VERTICAL  LENGTHWISE    SECTION  OF  FIG.  49. 

the  two  pipes,  c  d  and  c  d,  may  be  united  near  the 
exit  into  one  discharge  pipe. 

Cheaper  flues  are  made  by  digging  ditches  in  the 
floor  of  the  barn,  from  15  to  18  inches  wide  and  about 
an  equal  depth,  and  covering  them  with  sheet  iron.  A 
pipe  for  conveying  the  smoke  outside  must  be  inserted. 

Mud  walls  are  sometimes  built  by  packing  moist 
clay  between  two  boards  and  beating  it  down.  These 
mud  walls  are  from  12  to  18  inches  apart,  and  some  10 
to  12  inches  high.  When  covered  with  sheet  iron,  and 


196 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


the  boards  burned  away,  the  hardened  clay  walls  will 
stand  a  long  time,  if  the  clay  is  suitable  for  making  brick. 
The  inquiry  is  often  made  why  the  barns  for  curing 
yellow  tobacco  are  made  so  small.  The  reason  is  that 
unless  the  barn  is  filled  with  tobacco  within  the  period 
of  twelve  hours  and  the  firing  begun,  it  is  impossible  to 
cure  it  of  uniform  color.  For  a  portion  of  the  tobacco 
in  the  barn  to  remain  for  twenty-four  hours  longer  than 
the  rest  will  so  impair  its  quality  as  to  seriously  dimin- 
ish its  value.  Another  reason  why  small,  inexpensive 


FIG.  51.      SECTIONAL  PLAN  OF  HOUSE  IN  FIG.  49. 

Showing  Inspection  walk,  ventilating  funnels,  and  distributers  of  the  fresh  air 
directly  upon  the  leaf. 

barns  for  curing  are  preferred  is  the  danger  from  fire. 
The  loss  by  fire  of  a  barn  which  contains  the  growth 
of  one  acre,  is  not  so  disastrous  as  the  loss  of  one  con- 
taining a  large  portion,  or,  possibly,  all  the  crop.  The 
tobacco  in  a  small  barn  cures  more  rapidly,  more 
uniformly  and  more  perfectly,  and  may  be  removed  to 
the  packing  room  within  a  week,  and  the  barn  refilled. 
The  Snow  Barn.—  Capt.  W.  H.  Snow,  of  North 
Carolina,  has  recently  patented  a  barn  with  flues,  or 
stoves,  for  curing  yellow  tobacco.  Like  many  other 
attempts  to  patent  methods  of  hanging  or  curing  to- 
bacco, the  patentee's  claims  are  ignored  or  disputed  by 


TOBACCO  BARNS  AND   SHEDS.  197 

many,  though  Mr.  Snow  stoutly  maintains  their  validity. 
Figs.  44  and  45  will  give  a  good  idea  of  the  structure. 
In  the  Snow  barn  the  leaves  only  are  cured  after  having 
been  stripped  green  from  the  growing  stalk.  The 
leaves  are  brought  to  the  barn  in  baskets,  and  strung  on 
the  points,  Fig.  48,  about  the  width  of  a  finger  apart. 
As  the  sticks  are  filled,  they  are  put  on  a  movable  rack, 
shown  in  Fig.  45,  which,  by  a  simple  device,  is  lifted  to 
its  proper  place  in  the  building. 

Captain  Snow  claims  for  his  process  of  housing 
tobacco  the  following  advantages  :  1.  The  planter  can 
begin  to  house  his  crop  from  two 
to  four  weeks  earlier,  as  the  bot- 
tom leaves,  which  ripen  first,  can 
be  taken  off  and  cured  as  soon  as 
they  are  ripe.  2.  As  the  lower 
leaves  are  pulled  off,  those  left  on 
the  stalk  ripen  more  rapidly, 
which  enables  the  planter  to  get 
in  his  crop  earlier  in  the  season. 
3.  The  tobacco  can  be  stored  in ' 
a  much  smaller  space,  and  with 

.    -  f    -,        •  ,  ,  ,  FIG.  52.     END  VIEW    OF 

no  risk  of  losing  color  or  mold-        FRAME  OF  FIG.  49. 
ing  when  bulked  down.     4.     Tobacco  can  be  cured  with 
a  more  uniform  color.     5.     Less  fuel  will  be  required, 
and  the  risk  of  setting  fire  to  the  barn  will  be  greatly 
lessened. 

A  hillside,  with  a  slope  of  two  and  one-half  inches 
to  the  foot,  should  be  selected  for  the  site  of  the  barn. 
The  most  convenient  size  for  the  barn  is  16x20  feet,  and 
an  excavation  should  be  in  the  hillside  of  these  dimen- 
sions. The  upper  side  of  the  excavation  will  be  some 
four  feet  above  the  surface.  A  trench  is  then  dug 
around  the  four  sides  of  the  excavation  on  the  inside, 
one  foot  wide  and  deep.  The  trench  should  be  filled 
with  coarse  gravel,  which  acts  as  a  drain,  and  also  as  the 


198 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


foundation  for  the  barn.  An  eight-inch  wall  of  stone 
or  brick  is  built  with  strong  cement  upon  the  gravel 
foundation.  This  wall  is  built  about  five  and  one-half 
feet  high,  which  makes  a  basement.  A  door  should  be 
left  on  the  lower  side  of  the  wall  and  in  the  center  of  it. 
On  each  side  of  the  space  left  for  the  door,  two 
other  openings  should  be  left,  three  inches  from  the 
ground  and  22  inches  from  the  side  wall,  through  which 


FIG.  53.  BALLOON  FRAME  TOBACCO  BARN. 

The  sill  Is  on  stone  posts  18  Inches  above  ground,  with  an  18-Inch  door  lengthwise, 
as  shown  in  Fig.  40.  The  sill,  c,  is  6x6  inches,  the  plate  2x6,  d,  the  studding  18 
feet  high  of  2x4  set  four  feet  apart,  and  flush  with  sill  and  plate  on  in  tide, 
firmly  nailed  at  bottom  and  spiked  through  plate  at  top.  Then  nail  on  sides 
two  strips  of  2x6  flat,  a  a,  which  will  come  flush  with  owtside  of  sill  and  plate; 
upon  these  four  surfaces  nail  the  weather  boarding,  or  covering.  Brace 
across  each  side  and  end,  by  nailing  on  2x6  flat  inside,  as  shown  in  the  cut.  A 
barn  34  feet  wide  allows  a  10-foot  driveway  and  bays  on  each  side  12  feet  deep. 
The  poles,  o,  for  holding  the  lath  on  which  plants  are  hung  are  also  2x4  stuff, 
every  four  feet,  beginning  even  with  the  plate;  the  next  three  tiers  below  are 
each  four  feet  apart;  this  brings  the  bottom  permanent  tier  iyt  feet  from  the 
ground,  or  high  enough  not  to  interfere  with  driving  in  a  loaded  team.  An- 
other tier  four  feet  below  this  will  allow  3K  feet  for  hanging  plants.  A  tier 
may  be  put  in  the  roof  also,  nailed  to  rafters.  Rafters,  p,  are  24  feet  long. 

the  ends  of  the  stoves  should  come  to  within  the  dis- 
tance of  four  inches  of  the  outside  face  of  the  wall.  The 
doors  of  the  stoves  open  outwards.  The  stoves  (Fig.  43) 
are  elevated  three  inches  above  the  ground  floor  of  the 
basement,  and  are  covered  with  brick  arches,  with  an 
air  space  of  six  inches  between  the  arches  and  the  stoves, 
forming  jackets,  but  the  rear  ends  of  the  jackets  are  left 


TOBACCO   BARNS  AND    SHEDS. 


199 


open.  The  arches,  however,  are  extended  two  feet  be- 
yond the  ends  of  the  stoves.  Openings  are  left  above 
the  crown  of  the  arches  and  immediately  above  the  stove 
doors,  to  admit  fresh  air  between  the  arches  and  the 
stoves.  These  openings  are  closed  with  coverings  when 
not  needed.  Conduits  are  provided,  also,  for  admitting 
cool  air  to  the  basement. 

For  the  superstructure,  sills  are  set  in  the  walls  four 
by  six  inches,  the  four-inch  sides  resting  on  the  walls. 


FIG.  54.     SIDE  VIEW  OF  GERMAN  FRAME. 

Joists  are  put  in,  on  which  a  slatted  floor  is  laid,  with 
spaces  one  and  one-fourth  inches  wide  between  three 
and  one-half  inch  slats.  This  slatted  floor  extends  only 
to  within  two  feet  of  the  walls  on  two  sides  and  one  end. 
The  remainder  is  closely  laid,  except  on  the  end  contain- 
ing the  door,  which  is  laid  in  strips.  The  studding  is 
placed  18  inches  apart.  The  roof  is  one- third  pitch. 
The  sheeting  is  composed  of  square-edge  boards,  or 
planks,  one  inch  in  thickness.  Shingles  are  used  for 
roofing.  A  ventilator  15  feet  long  and  eight  inches 
wide,  is  placed  on  the  crest  of  the  roof. 


200  TOBACCO    LEAF. 

Sheeting  paper  is  nailed  on  the  studding,  and  the 
whole  barn  is  ceiled  and  weatherboarded.  Collar  or 
wind  beams  are  put  in  the  roof.  The  first  set  of  scaffold 
beams  is  set  about  seven  feet  from  the  floor  on  two 
sides  and  one  end  of  the  building ;  the  next  set,  six  feet 
above  the  first.  Windows  are  put  at  each  end  with 
12  lights  of  10x12  glass. 

In  the  barn  of  the  size  given,  five  pieces  two  by 
eight  inches  are  placed  upright,  three  and  one-half  feet 


FIG.  55.     SIDE    ELEVATION,  GERMAN   BARN. 

apart,  and  extending  from  bottom  to  top  of  the  barn. 
In  the  center  of  each  two  by  eight  piece  is  nailed  a  piece 
one  and  one-half  by  two  inches,  which  makes  a  groove 
on  each  side  of  the  original  piece  for  confining  the  racks 
as  they  slide  up  and  down,  as  shown  in  Fig.  45.  The 
racks,  shown  in  the  same  illustration,  are  light  frames 
14  feet  long,  and,  taking  their  places  in  the  grooves, 
make  five  complete  stanchions,  or  rooms,  in  the  barn,  of 
nearly  four  feet  width  each.  Each  rack  has  14  notches 


TOBACCO  BARNS  AND    SHEDS.  201 

on  the  sides,  for  holding  14  of  the  wired,  or  Snow  sticks 
(Fig.  48).  The  sticks  are  one  inch  square,  with  holes 
six  inches  apart  bored  through  the  center.  Through 
these  holes  pointed  wires,  nine  inches  long,  are  put  and 
doubled  over  at  right  angles  to  the  stick,  making  12 
points  to  the  stick,  upon  which  the  leaves  are  strung 
for  curing. 

BARNS   FOR  CURING  CIGAR   LEAF   TOBACCO. 

This  operation,  at  the  North,  is  somewhat  different 
from  that  in  the  heavy  leaf  sections  of  the  South.  Con- 
siderable controversy  has  arisen,  as  to  what  is  the  best 
pattern  of  a  barn  for  cigar  leaf,  but  the  one  first  de- 
scribed is  the  type  in  general  use  throughout  the  Con- 
necticut valley  and  New  York  state,  while  it  is  but 
slightly  modified  in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio  and  Wisconsin. 
The  location  should  be  on  slightly  elevated  ground, 
well  drained,  convenient  to  the  field,  and  sufficiently 
removed  from  other  buildings  to  allow  a  free  circulation 
of  the  air,  from  all  directions.  As  a  rule,  the  barn 
should  stand  east  and  west,  for  it  will  thus  have  the  ben- 
efit of  the  drying  and  dampening  winds,  which,  coming 
from  the  south,  will  draw  through  the  barn,  with  the 
best  effect.  In  this  position,  it  will  be  less  liable  to  be 
blown  over,  for  the  strongest  winds,  or  gales,  come 
from  the  west,  and  would,  therefore,  only  strike  the 
end  of  the  barn.  This  may  vary,  however,  in  different 
localities. 

A  barn  30  feet  by  45  feet  long,  thrfle  tiers  high, 
will  hold  an  acre  of  heavy  Havana  seed  cigar-leaf  to- 
bacco, or  nearly  an  acre  and  a  half  of  seedleaf.  Three 
tiers  is  now  considered  high  enough,  though  the  cost  of 
a  like  capacity  is  a  little  greater  than  in  a  four-tier 
barn.  The  expense  of  hanging  and  taking  down  to- 
bacco each  year  from  the  fourth  tier  would  soon  amount 
to  more  than  the  extra  expense  of  the  building.  More- 


202  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

over,  the  fourth,  or  higher  tiers,  do  not  cure  as  well  as 
the  lower  ones,  the  colors  are  not  as  good  or  uniform, 
and  the  leaf  is  more  liable  to  have  white  veins.  The 
illustration,  Fig.  40,  is  an  outside  view  of  a  barn,  30x45 
feet,  three  tiers  high,  or  ]  7  feet  from  the  sill  to  the 
plate.  Fig.  41  gives  the  cross  section  of  the  end  of  the 
barn,  with  the  boards  removed.  Fig.  42  is  a  sectional 
view,  lengthwise,  through  the  middle  of  the  barn,  show- 
ing the  posts  through  the  center,  and  the  girders  on 
which  the  poles  rest.  A  width  of  30  feet  is  very  con- 
venient for  a  three-tier  barn,  and  a  building  so  con- 
structed is  easily  and  thoroughly  aired.  The  first  tier 
of  poles,  as  shown  in  Fig.  41,  b  b,  should  be  7  feet  from 
the  ground,  which  will  allow  of  free  ventilation  from 
beneath,  after  the  plants  are  hung,  thereby  lessening 
the  liability  to  stem  rot,  pole  or  cold  sweat,  or  injury 
from  moisture  arising  from  the  ground.  The  two  tiers 
above  the  first  one  should  be  five  feet  apart,  which  will 
bring  the  second  tier  12  feet  from  the  ground,  and  the 
third  17  feet.  About  a  foot  or  two  before  the  second 
tier,  c  c,  at  each  end  of  the  barn,  and  at  each  bent,  a 
stout  tie  girder,  5x5  inches  in  size,  should  extend 
across  the  barn,  which  will  strengthen  it  very  much  ; 
some,  however,  think  that  no  tie  girders  are  necessary 
on  the  ends  of  the  barn.  This  tie  girder  is  shown  in 
Fig.  41,  a  a.  The  middle  girders,  lengthwise  of  the 
barn  (Fig.  42,  a  a),  should  also  be  of  6x6  timber. 
They  are  sometimes  made  smaller,  but  the  great  weight 
on  them,  wh%n  the  barn  is  full  of  tobacco,  requires  this 
size,  at  least.  The  upper  girders  should  be  braced,  but 
the  lower  ones  need  not  be ;  the  latter  can  be  made  to 
take  out  at  will,  when  it  is  called  a  slip  girder.  The 
posts,  plates  and  beams  should  be  7x7  inches,  and  the 
outside  girders,  on  which  the  boards  are  nailed,  should 
be  4x6  inches.  Sometimes  4x4  inch  timber  is  used  for 
these,  but  it  is  too  small  and  will  be  likely  to  spring, 


TOBACCO   BARNS  AND    SHEDS. 


203 


FIG.  56.     GERMAN  TOBACCO  BARNS. 


204  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

thus  weakening  the  barn.  It  is  better  to  use  timbers  of 
good  size,  and  build  a  substantial  structure  at  a  some- 
what increased  cost,  than  to  erect  a  frail  structure  that 
the  first  big  wind  might  blow  down. 

The  poles  on  which  the  tobacco  is  hung  by  tying 
should  be  2£x5  inches,  of  good  timber ;  spruce  is  the 
best.  These  are  cheaper  in  the  end  than  round  poles, 
even  if  the  latter  cost  nothing,  if  the  plants  are  to  be 
tied  to  them ;  when  laths  are  used,  however,  the  round 
poles  are  just  as  good.  In  a  barn  30  feet  wide,  the  15- 
foot  poles  should  be  placed  crosswise  of  the  barn,  one 
end  resting  on  the  middle  girder,  and  the  other  end  on 
the  outside  girder  near  the  boarding.  Koof  tiers,  if 
there  are  any,  should  be  hung  lengthwise  of  the  barn. 
When  tobacco  is  hung  on  slats,  the  bents  should  be  16 
feet  long,  so  as  to  take  four  lengths  of  four-feet  slats. 
This  would  make  a  three-bent  barn  48  feet  long. 

The  covering  should  be  of  good  boards,  of  uniform 
width.  They  should  be  lined,  so  that  the  barn  can  be 
made  tight.  Every  other  board  should  be  hung  for  a 
door  and  left  as  long  as  will  swing  under  the  eaves. 
These  may  be  hung  in  two  ways ;  either  on  two  hinges, 
to  open  outward  in  the  usual  way,  at  b  (as  shown  in 
Fig.  40),  or  the  door  may  have  one  hinge  at  the  top  and 
open  outward  at  the  bottom,  as  seen  at  a,  Fig.  40.  The 
latter  door  will  keep  the  sun  and  rain  off  the  tobacco 
hanging  next  to  the  boarding,  but  the  two-hinged  door  is 
generally  preferred,  as  giving  the  least  trouble  and  better 
circulation  of  air.  The  eaves  should  extend  two  feet 
over  the  outside  of  the  barn,  so  that  the  water  will  fall 
clear  of  the  boards,  and  thus  be  prevented  from  tric- 
kling through  upon  the  tobacco.  Many  pounds  of  fine 
leaf  are  every  year  damaged  by  the  barn  being  faulty  in 
this  particular.  The  end  of  the  barn  needs  doors  for 
ventilation  only  at  the  top,  where  four  are  all  that  are 
necessary,  as  shown  in  Fig.  40.  Some  growers  advocate 


TOBACCO  BARNS  AND    SHEDS.  205 

giving  as  much  ventilation  as  possible  at  the  top  by  a 
ventilator.  The  sill  should  be  about  one  foot  from  the 
ground,  resting  on  a  good-sized  stone  at  each  post.  On 
this,  boards  about  a  foot  wide  should  be  hung,  to  turn 
up  and  let  air  under  the  tobacco  after  it  is  nearly  cured, 
and  the  long  doors  are  closed,  as  shown  in  the  side  view 
of  Fig.  40.  A  four-tier  barn  may  be  constructed  on  the 
same  plan.  It  should  be  36  or  39  feet  wide,  to  use  poles 
12  or  13  feet  long,  there  being  three  lengths  of  poles 
across  the  barn,  instead  of  two  lengths,  as  in  the  three- 
tier  barn  (Fig.  40).  The  middle  girders  need  not  be 
braced  and  all  the  lower  ones  should  be  slip  girders. 
Upon  the  lower  tier  the  middle  bent  should  be  left 
unhung,  to  admit  of  better  ventilation.  Above  the  sill 
there  should  be  a  row  of  doors,  three  or  four  feet  long, 
to  ventilate  with  after  the  long  doors  above  have  been 
closed,  or  before  that,  if  necessary. 

Jacob  Zimmer,  an  authority  on  this  crop  in  the 
Miami  valley,  Ohio,  says  a  better  plan  is  to  have  the  barn, 
even  for  cigar-leaf  tobacco,  as  air-tight  as  possible,  by 
nailing  strips  over  all  cracks,  except  to  cut  away  six 
inches  lengthwise  at  bottom,  to  admit  fresh  air,  and 
leave  an  open  space  at  top,  under  the  eaves,  thus  pro- 
viding constant  circulation  of  air.  Screen  space  at  bot- 
tom with  wire  netting  to  keep  out  vermin.  Fig.  29 
shows  such  a  space  under  the  eaves,  and  Fig.  40  shows 
the  open  space  alongside  at  bottom. 

In  Pennsylvania,  barns  are  of  all  sizes,  from  20  feet 
square  to  40x150  feet,  and  a  width  of  36  feet  is  generally 
preferred.  Fig.  47  shows  an  elaborate  affair,  41x184 
feet.  There  is  a  cellar  nine  feet  high  in  the  clear, 
under  the  whole  of  it,  containing  a  dampening  room, 
into  which  the  tobacco  is  lowered  through  trap  doors  in 
the  floor,  where  it  is  bulked  after  being  stripped. 
A  smaller  room  is  used  for  stripping ;  around  its  four 
sides  are  permanent  tables  or  counters,  with  a  raised 


206  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

wooden  floor  immediately  behind  them,  on  which  stand 
the  men  when  stripping.  The  barn  is  39  feet  high  from 
floor  to  plate,  with  room  for  seven  tiers  of  tobacco. 
Ventilation  is  provided  at  the  sides,  at  the  gables  and  at 
the  roof.  At  intervals  of  four  feet,  there  are  horizontal 
openings  along  the  entire  sides  of  the  whole  building,  as 
shown  in  the  illustration,  Fig.  40,  each  opening  just 
where  the  tier  of  tobacco  begins.  These  openings  are 
about  a  foot  wide,  the  doors  being  operated  by  levers. 
This  ornate  affair  cost  $4,000  about  20  years  ago,  and  is 
far  more  expensive  than  necessary. 

In  the  rest  of  the  Northern  cigar-leaf  growing  sec- 
tions, barns  are  generally  constructed  on  the  principle 
above  described.  The  Snow  barn  was  used  in  Suffield, 
Ct.,  for  one  season,  but  H.  Austin,  under  whose  auspices 
the  trial  was  made,  says :  "It  cured  our  cigar  leaf  too 
quickly,  and  left  the  stem  hard  and  woody,  the  leaf  was 
of  poor  color,  and  had  a  smoky  smell,  which  spoiled  it 
for  cigar  leaf."  Although  this  single  test  is  no  criterion 
for  judging  the  method,  it  should  be  said  that  it  is  yet 
a  serious  question  to  what  extent  artificial  heat  can 
safely  be  applied  to  the  curing  of  cigar-leaf  tobacco. 

In  Florida,  barns  for  cigar  leaf  are  made  like  those 
in  the  Connecticut  valley,  but  plants  must  not  be  hung 
on  the  bottom  tier,  as  the  leaf  might  mold  in  wet 
weather.  Instead  of  single  board  doors  for  ventilation, 
windows  are  made  every  8  feet,  2^  or  3  feet  wide  and 
10  feet  long,  hung  by  a  hinge  at  the  top.  This  is  nec- 
essary to  admit  air  more  freely  at  night,  being  closed 
every  dry  day.  The  balloon  frame  tobacco  barn  is  more 
preferred  in  Florida.  As  matters  of  interest  for  com- 
parison, views  are  given  of  the  tobacco  barns  used  in 
Germany. 

A  Wisconsin  barn  that  has  been  patented  is  shown 
at  Figs.  49,  50,  and  51.  This  building  is  60x33J  feet, 
divided  into  two  sections  of  24  feet  each,  and  these  cut 


TOBACCO   BARNS  AND    SHEDS.  207 

into  two  divisions  of  12  feet  each.  It  is  four  stories 
high  and  has  four  tiers  four  feet  in  width  each  side 
of  the  center  walk,  making  eight  tiers  in  all.  In  the 
center,  between  the  two  sections,  is  a  driveway  of  12 
feet.  Midway  between  the  second  and  third  stories  is 
an  inspection  walk,  18  inches  wide,  the  length  of  the 
building,  with  a  door  at  each  end,  which  enables  one  to 
inspect  the  condition  of  the  upper  tiers.  The  building 
is  perfectly  air-tight,  with  no  ventilating  doors,  but 
ventilation  is  furnished  by  the  air  shafts  between  the 
hanging  tobacco ;  by  the  vertical  air  shaft  in  center 
of  building  its  whole  length ;  by  the  air  distributers  in 
each  section,  with  pipes  connecting  them  with  funnels 
outside  of  the  house ;  a  rotary  turret  on  the  roof,  with 
double  vanes  for  upward  or  downward  draft ;  arrestors 
to  be  hung  in  the  center  if  each  section  to  force  an 
upward  draft,  and  by  outside  ventilating  doors  at  the 
bottom,  to  admit  air.  Arrangements  are  made  for  venti- 
lating the  different  rooms  independent  of  each  other. 
We  believe  only  one  such  barn  was  ever  constructed,  but 
there  are  some  suggestive  features  about  it. 

A  Balloon  Frame  Tobacco  Barn  is  shown  and  de- 
scribed at  Fig.  53,  that  can  be  put  together  with  simply 
a  hammer  and  saw,  no  mortising  is  required,  and  yet  it 
will  stand  the  severest  cyclone.  Long,  narrow  windows 
along  the  bottom,  just  above  the  sills,  are  advised  by  Mr. 
Chapman,  also  a  big  window  in  each  gable  and  three 
cupolas,  4x4,  with  slats  to  keep  out  rain  and  inside  shut- 
ters to  exclude  air  when  necessary.  This  barn,  34x64, 
will  hold  about  three  acres,  requires  22,000  shingles  and 
17,000  feet  of  lumber.  It  has  no  loose  poles  inside  to  be 
lost,  or  to  expose  men  to  bad  falls  by  a  misstep  when 
hanging  tobacco. 


CHAPTER  X. 

ON  CUEING  TOBACCO. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  delicate  and  important  op- 
erations, but  the  method  of  doing  it  varies  with  the 
kind  of  leaf  grown,  and  the  object  for  which  it  is  to  be 
used.  The  object  is  to  cure  the  leaf  to  the  desired  state 
without  sacrifice  of  its  good  qualities,  and  yet  to  avoid 
or  get  rid  of  bad  qualities.  But  this  involves  far  more 
than  merely  drying  the  leaf,  for  (says  Frear)  a  marked 
loss  of  dry  matter  occurs  during  the  process,  as  well  as  a 
loss  of  water.  "If  the  leaf  be  killed  by  chloroform  or 
frost,  the  changes  ordinarily  observed  to  result  from 
curing  do  not  occur.  Curing,  then,  is  probably  a  life 
process,  due  chiefly  (if  not  wholly)  to  the  activity  of  the 
cells  of  the  leaf." 

The  process  of  curing  is,  therefore,  much  influenced 
by  the  structure  of  leaf,  and  by  conditions  of  tempera- 
ture and  moisture.  Nor  does  it  appear  that  the  same 
method  of  curing  can  by  any  means  be  applied,  with 
safety,  to  different  types  of  tobacco.  Cigar  leaf  is  prac- 
tically ruined  by  the  quick-curing  process  used  for  yel- 
low tobacco.  Pole  burn  and  white  veins  also  appear 
under  apparently  or  somewhat  different  conditions  in 
different  classes  of  leaf,  and  even  with  the  same  variety 
in  different  years.  All  these  matters  are  now  being  sci- 
entifically investigated,  but  we  must  confine  our  atten- 
tion to  such  practical  details  as  have  thus  far  been  proven 
to  give  the  best  results.  We  are  confident,  however, 
that  science  and  practice  together  will  greatly  improve 
upon  these  methods. 


CURING    TOBACCO.  209 

CURING  THE  YELLOW  TOBACCO. 

Probably  in  no  other  tobacco  region  in  the  world 
are  so  much  experience  and  good  judgment  required  in 
the  curing  of  the  crop  as  in  the  yello vv -tobacco  States. 
Barns  are  purposely  built  small  in  order  that  they  may 
be  filled  quickly.  A  difference  of  one  day  in  cutting 
the  plants  will  be  hazardous  in  the  curing  of  the  tobacco 
a  uniform  color.  Every  plant,  if  possible,  should  be 
put  in  the  barn  the  same  day,  and  heat  applied  before  it 
is  wilted. 

Very  minute  directions  have  been  given  as  to  the 
regulation  of  the  heat  at  varying  intervals  of  time,  and 
these  directions,  though  valuable,  are  rarely  ever  appli- 
cable as  a  whole  to  the  curing  of  a  barn  full  of  tobacco. 
They  require  to  be  modified  to  suit  the  change  of  condi- 
tions. Tobacco  cut  full  of  sap,  superinduced  by  a  rainy 
season,  requires  a  different  formula  for  curing  to  that 
cut  after  a  season  of  dry  weather.  The  sole  object,  in 
curing,  is  to  expel  the  sap  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  the 
desired  colors,  and  to  prevent  the  exudation  of  the  juices, 
which  give  flavor  and  suppleness,  by  improper  or  too 
rapid  curing,  or  in  drying  preceded  or  accompanied 
by  fermentation.  The  cells  of  the  leaf  must  not  be 
broken  so  that  the  contents  are  dissipated.  This  is 
done  in  tobacco  that  is  house  burned  or  pole  sweated. 
Nor  must  the  process  of  curing  be  so  rapid  as  to  destroy 
the  colors. 

Mr.  K.  L.  Ragland,  of  Virginia,  first  laid  down -a 
plan  to  be  followed  in  curing  yellow  tobacco,  and  this 
has  been  the  basis  of  all  subsequent  formulas.  The 
agent  for  curing  is  dry,  artificial  heat.  The  heat  is  either 
made  by  having  heaps  of  charcoal  on  the  floors  under- 
neath the  tobacco,  or  by  means  of  flues  running  around 
three  sides  of  the  barn  and  heated  by  wood  fed  from 
the  outside  in  a  furnace  (see  Fig.  58).  A  thermometer 
is  put  inside  the  barn,  so  as  to  determine  and  regulate 
H 


210  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

the  degree  of  heat  required  at  the  various  stages  of  the 
curing  process.  The  Snow  barn  principle  is  preferred 
by  the  North  Carolina  experiment  station,  because  it 
enables  temperature  and  moisture  to  be  more  closely 
regulated  than  in  old-fashioned  barns.  Approximately, 
a  pound  of  water  for  each  plant  must  be  driven  out  in 
about  100  hours.  According  to  Mr.  Ragland's  methods, 
there  are  four  stages  in  the  operation  : 

1.  The  yellowing  process,   requiring  90°  of  heat 
and  lasting  from  24  to  30  hours. 

2.  Fixing  the  color,  requiring  from  16  to  20  hours 
at  a  temperature  ranging  from  100°  F.  at  the  beginning, 
to  120°  at  the  close. 

3.  The  curing  process,  requiring  for  48  hours  a 
temperature  of  120°  to  125°. 

4.  The  curing  of  the  stalk  and  stem,  which  re- 
quires from  nine  to  ten  hours  with  a  heat  of  125°  to  175°, 
increased  at  the  rate  of  5°  an  hour. 

Mr.  Ragland  himself  subsequently  modified  these 
regulations,  by  advising  the  heat  to  be  put  under  the 
tobacco  as  soon  as  cut,  and  the  temperature  put  at  90° 
for  three  hours  and  then  advanced  rapidly  to  125°,  or  as 
high  as  the  tobacco  will  bear  without  scalding,  letting 
the  heat  remain  at  this  high  temperature  for  only  a  few 
minutes,  and  then  allowing  the  temperature  to  descend 
to  90°  again.  This  process  he  calls  "sapping."  The 
sap  cells  are  opened,  the  water  comes  to  the  surface  of 
the  leaves,  and  the  yellowing  process  is  hastened,  requir- 
ing only  from  four  to  eight  hours,  instead  of  from  24  to 
30  hours  by  the  old  formula. 

Mr.  George  L.  Wimberly,  a  successful  tobacco 
grower  of  Edgecombe  county,  lying  in  the  Champaign 
district  of  North  Carolina,  gives  some  information  which 
is  appended.  Mr.  Wimberly  strips  the  leaves  from  the 
stalk  in  harvesting,  and  the  method  of  curing  is  varied 
somewhat  from  that  used  in  curing  tobacco  on  the  stalk. 


CURING    TOBACCO. 


211 


He  says:  "Our  barns  are  simple  structures,  20  feet 
square,  16  feet  from  the  ground  to  the  plate,  with  a  roof 
not  too  sharp,  a  moderately  flat  roof  being,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  experienced  tobacco  farmers, 
the  best.  In  curing,  we  generally 
start  at  95°,  and  consume  from  24  to 
30  hours  between  that  heat  and  110°. 
From  this  point,  advance  two  and 
one-half  degrees  per  hour  until  120°  is 
reached,  where  that  degree  of  heat  is 
retained  for  about  four  hours.  Then 
it  is  advanced  to  125°,  where  it  re- 
mains about  the  same  length  of  time. 
From  that  point,  the  heat  is  advanced 
slowly  to  135°,  where  it  remains  until 
the  leaf  is  thoroughly  cured.  When 
this  is  done,  the  critical  point  is  past, 
and  the  heat  can  be  moved  up  five 
degrees  an  hour  until  it  reaches  170°, 
where  it  should  remain  until  the  stem 
is  cured  so  perfectly  that  it  will  break 
like  a  dead  twig.  The  fire  is  then 
drawn,  the  door  opened,  and  in  24 
hours  the  tobacco  is  ready  to  come  out 
of  the  barn  and  go  to  the  pack  house. 
It  takes  four  days  to  cure  a  barn  of 
tobacco,  and  in  a  20-foot  barn  there  will  be  about  800 
pounds." 

Mr.  K.  B.  Davis,  who  raises  yellow  tobacco  very 
successfully  in  the  Piedmont  district  of  North  Carolina, 

*The  instrument  consists  of  two  accurately  graduated  thermome- 
ters, of  which  the  bulbs  are  placed  at  some  distance  apart.  The  bulb 
of  one  is  surrounded  by  thin  muslin,  which  is  connected  by  a  wick  of 
clean  cotton  to  a  cup  hung  a  short  distance  below,  and  which,  while 
ihe  instrument  is  in  use,  should  contain  more  or  less  of  distilled,  or 
clean,  rain  water.  The  water  from  this  cup  is  drawn  upward  through 
the  wick  to  the  muslin  that  surrounds  one  of  the  bulbs,  and  thus  the 
surface  of  this  bulb  is  kept  constantly  moist,  while  that  of  the  other 
bulb  is  dry.  Now,  the  water  on  the  surface  of  this  wet  bulb  will  evap- 
orate into  the  air  about  it  more  or  less  rapidly,  according  as  the  air 


FIG.  5T. 

"•  PSYCHROMETEB. 


212  TOBACCO    LEAF. 

says  that  the  yellowing  process  should  be  done  at  90° 
(80°  if  the  weather  is  cool),  and  should  last  from  18  to 
30  hours,  until  the  desired  color  is  obtained.  The  dry- 
ing, or  curing,  is  then  effected  by  regulating  the  tem- 
perature so  as  to  have  95°  for  two  hours,  100°  for  two 
hours,  105°  for  two  hours,  110°  for  two  hours,  115°  for 
two  hours,  120°  for  six  hours,  130°  for  two  hours,  140° 
for  two  hours,  150°  for  two  hours  and  160°  for  24  hours, 
tlie  last  temperature  being  kept  up  until  the  stalks  and 
stems  are  cured. 

A  very  interesting  case  was  reported  by  the  Border 
Review.  A  barn  18  feet  square,  four  firing  tiers  high, 
and  containing  450  sticks,  or  3150  plants,  was  success- 
fully cured  by  the  following  process  :  The  tobacco  was 
of  old-field  growth,  long  leaf,  but  thin  and  light.  The 
temperature  was  run  up  to  90°  in  six  hours,  then  to  100° 
in  six  hours,  then  110°  in  six  hours.  The  leaf  was  thor- 
oughly yellowed  at  the  expiration  of  18  hours.  The 
temperature  was  then  advanced  120°  in  six  hours;  to 
125°  in  six  more  ;  to  130°  in  six  hours ;  to  140°  in  three 
hours,  where  it  was  allowed  to  remain  for  six  hours. 
At  the  end  of  this  time  the  leaf  was  cured.  Then  the 
temperature  was  run  up  to  150°  for  three  hours  and 
held  at  that  point  for  three  hours,  then  to  170°  in  12 
hours,  where  it  stood  for  12  hours,  until  the  stalk  was 

already  contains  more  or  less  of  moisture, — the  more  moisture  the  air 
contains,  the  less  rapid  will  be  the  evaporation,  and  vice  versa.  Since 
water,  in  evaporating,  absorbs  heat,  the  temperature  of  the  wet  bulb 
is  lowered  more  or  less,  according  as  the  evaporation  is  more  or  less 
rapid.  Hence,  by  noting  the  difference  in  the  temperature  registered 
by  the  two  thermometers,  we  form  an  idea  of  the  moisture  of  the  air, 
— the  greater  the  difference  registered,  the  dryer  the  air,  and  vice 
versa.  When  the  two  thermometers  register  alike,  the  air  in  contact 
with  the  wet  bulb  is  saturated  with  moisture,  so  that  it  can  hold  no 
more,  and  hence  evaporation  lias  ceased.  In  dry,  summer  weather, 
the  difference  registered  by  the  two  thermometers  may  amount  to  fif- 
teen or  more  degrees.  By  using  prepared  tables,  the  absolute  relative 
humidity  of  the  air  may  be  determined  by  the  psychrometer,  but  for 
our  present  purpose,  the  depression  of  the  wet  bulb  is  all  that  is  nec- 
essary to  use.  The  tobacco  leaves  while  in  process  of  curing  being 
moist,  the  evaporation  from  them  will  follow  the  same  law  as  from 
the  wet  bulb,  hence  a  psychrometer  hung  among  the  plants  in  the 
curing  house  will  give  an  indication  at  any  time  of  the  rate  at  which 
the  moisture  is  passing  off  from  the  tobacco. 


CUEING  TOBACCO.  213 

dry.  The  result  was  a  perfect  cure  of  a  lemon  color 
requiring  only  75  hours. 

Another  modification  of  the  process  was  made  by 
Mr.  T.  C.  Anderson,  of  the  Champaign  district  of  North 
Carolina,  which  he  says  will  always  give  good  results  if 
the  tobacco  yellows  well  and  is  allowed  to  remain  on  the 
hill  until  it  is  thoroughly  ripe.  His  instructions  are, 
that  it  must  be  cut  and  put  in  the  barn  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble, from  five  to  seven  plants  on  a  stick,  arranging  the 
sticks  in  the  barn  ten  inches^apart  in  warm  weather  and 
eight  inches  in  cool  weather.  Start  the  fires  at  once. 
In  warm  weather  run  the  temperature  up  to  100° ;  in 
cool  weather  to  75°.  Keep  the  heat  to  this  point  for  six 
hours ;  raise  to  105°,  hold  at  this  point  for  five  or  six 
hours ;  raise  to  110°,  at  which  point  hold  for  10  or  12 
hours,  until  the  tobacco  is  yellow  enough  to  commence 
drying  the  leaf ;  then  raise  to  118°  or  120°.  When  this 
temperature  is  reached,  throw  the  doors  open  and  reduce 
the  heat  to  105°;  then  run  the  heat  up  to  120°;  open 
the  doors  and  let  the  temperature  fall  back  to  105°. 
Repeat  this  four  or  five  times.  This  dries  off  the  sweat 
that  causes  trouble  at  this  stage  of  curing.  Close  the 
doors  then  and  hold  the  heat  at  120°  for  three  hours,  or 
until  the  leaves  on  the  bottom  tier  are  about  half  cured, 
then  raise  the  heat  to  128°.  Open  the  doors  and  reduce 
the  heat  to  115°;  then  close  the  doors  and  elevate  the 
temperature  to  130°  in  three  hours;  then  to  135°  in  five 
hours,  or  until  the  leaves  are  cured  ;  then  to  145°  for 
three  hours ;  then  to  150°  for  two  hours ;  then  155°  for 
three  hours  ;  then  to  160°  for  two  hours,  and  so  on  to 
180°,  and  hold  at  this  until  stalk  and  stems  are  cured. 

It  is  apparent,  from  a  careful  study  of  these  differ- 
ent formulas,  that  every  curer  must  exercise  judgment 
as  to  when  to  increase  and  when  to  decrease  the  heat. 
He  must  watch  some  particular  plant  and  be  governed 
by  its  condition.  The  greatest  danger  to  be  feared  is 


214  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

the  reddening,  "splotching"  or  sponging  of  the  leaf 
during  the  second  stage,  when  the  color  is  fixed.  The 
sweating  of  the  leaf  at  this  period  must  be  checked,  by 
admission  of  air  to  the  barn  by  the  opening  of  all  doors 
and  windows,  and  by  opening  a  space  between  the  logs 
on  the  side  opposite  the  door.  Mr.  Eagland  says,  just 
at  this  point  more_failures  are  made  than  a.t  any  other 
stage  of  the  process.  "Five  curings  are  spoiled  by  forc- 
ing too  fast,  to  one  from  going  too  slow." 

Captain  E.  M.  Pace,  of  South  Carolina,  gives  the 
following  directions   for  curing   when   the    leaves  are 


Q 

p 

If 

1 

1000 

•II 

I 

o                  o                 e 

I 

a 

FIG.  58.     STOVES  AND  FLUES  FOR  CURING  SEEDLEAF. 

stripped  from  the  stalk.  "Take  off  the  thoroughly 
ripe  leaves  after  a  light  shower,  or  early,  when  the  dew 
is  heaviest ;  string  and  run  the  tobacco  in  the  barn  be- 
fore it  has  time  to  wilt.  In  case  there  is  no  light 
shower,  use  plenty  of  water  around  the  sides  of  the  barn 
below  the  first  tiers.  Suspend  a  plank  over  the  main 
flues,  to  keep  the  heat  from  scalding  the  tobacco  on  the 
lower  tiers  (these  can  be  removed  after  the  sweating). 
Use  pans  filled  with  water  on  the  flues  and  furnace. 
This  will  assist  in  producing  a  moisture,  or  warm  vapor, 
thereby  aiding  the  leaf  to  sweat.  The  entire  barn  must 
sweat  freely.  Heat  and  water  will  do  it.  Stop  the  use 
of  water  on  the  sides  and  floor  as  soon  as  the  leaf  begins 
to  sweat.  When  the  leaf  begins  to  sweat,  say  at  110°, 


CURING  TOBACCO.  215 

115°  or  120°,  as  the  case  may  be,  stop  the  fire  and  hold 
as  long  as  the  leaf  will  sweat.  When  the  leaf  begins  to 
dry  off,  you  know  then  that  you  have  sweated,  or 
steamed,  all  the  water  or  foreign  matter  out.  Draw  all 
the  fires,  open  both  your  doors,  ventilators  and  gable 
windows  and  give  cold,  fresh  air.  Use  such  fuel  as  to 
be  able  to  draw  the  fire  quickly. 

The  cold  air  will  "yellow"  the  barn  in,  say  30  or  60 
minutes,  or  maybe  one  and  one-half  hours,  or  longer. 
Watch  it  closely,  and  when  it  is  sufficiently  yellow,  be- 
gin a  dry  heat  at  once,  and  advance  your  heat  fast 
enough  to  keep  it  from  sponging,  but  not  too  fast,  to 
splotch  it.  Right  along  here  you  are  the  sole  judge. 
Simply  apply  to  the  symptoms  which  are  apparent.  If 
not  fast  enough,  the  leaf  will  sponge ;  if  too  fast,  the 
leaf  will  splotch.  Always  advance  as  fast  as  the  leaf 
will  bear,  and  rest  a  few  hours  at  130°  or  135°.  This  is 
immaterial,  and  is  only  done  as  a  safeguard,  for  when 
you  once  pass  the  sponging  and  not  splotching  points, 
you  may  go  ahead  and  kill  out  the  barn  at  150°  to  160°. 
It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  tobacco,  at  the  time  it 
is  ripe  and  ready  for  curing,  contains  80  per  cent  of 
water,  and  that  water  must  come  out  before  the  plant 
can  assume  an  artificial  yellow.  You  cannot  cure 
green  tobacco  by  this  method ;  it  will  coddle  and  turn 
black  before  it  will  sweat.  By  this  process  it  requires 
from  24  to  30  hours,  and  maybe  a  little  longer,  to  cure 
a  barn. 

The  object  should  be  to  make  as  little  green  tobacco 
as  possible.  Curing  tobacco  yellow  is  now  regarded  as 
an  art,  which  demands  the  closest  attention,  the  best 
judgment  and  the  most  painstaking  experience  to  attain 
the  perfect  results.  No  novice  can  succeed  without  un- 
dergoing an  apprenticeship,  however  minute  in  details 
the  instructions  he  may  receive. 

Curing  in  Leaf  vs.  Stalk. — On  this  point  the  North 


216  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

Carolina  station  conducted  an  elaborate  experiment,  and 
concluded : 

1.  "  If  the  first  priming  leaves  upon  the  tobacco 
stalk  be  saved,  they  can  be  cured  at  a  considerable  saving. 
The  remaining  leaves  upon  the  stalk  ripen  at  different 
times,  commencing  from  below,  and  if  these  leaves  be 
cured  separately  the  experiment  would  indicate  that  it 
can  be  done  advantageously  and  remuneratively.     Curing 
by  the  leaf  process,  the  plant  will  require  at  least  three 
separate  curings  in  the  barn,  whereas  only  one  curing  is 
required  to  cure  the  entire  stalk  with  its  leaves  still 
upon  it,  but  the  results  justify  the  additional  labor.     It 
is  believed,  also,  that  by  removing  the  lower  leaves  the 
remainder  mature  more  rapidly,  and  so  the  danger  of 
being  hurt  by  frost  is  decreased. 

2.  "The  manipulation  in  handling  the  leaves  sepa- 
rately is  considerably  more  than  in  the  stalk  cure,  but 
the  greater  part  of  it  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it  can  prof- 
itably be  done  by  children,  and  at  various  times  during 
the  season. 

3.  "There  is  a  less  consumption  of  wood  for  heat- 
ing by  the  leaf  cure  than  by  the  stalk  cure.     There  is 
apparently  no  satisfactory  cause  for  consuming  wood  to 
drive  off  473  pounds  of  water  (or  946  pounds,  or  124 
gallons,  per  acre)  contained  as  moisture  in  the  green 
stalks,  when  results  would  indicate  that  there  is  no  good 
reason  for  the  outlay." 

CURING   HEAVY   SHIPPING   TOBACCO. 

If  the  tobacco  has  been  on  the  scaffold  for  four  or 
five  days,  fires  should  be  kindled  under  it  as  soon  as  the 
barn  is  filled.  The  heat  should  not  be  over  90°  for  12 
hours.  After  that  time,  it  may  be  carried  up  gradually 
to  150°.  The  leafy  part  and  one  half  the  stem  should 
be  cured  in  three  days  and  nights.  After  this,  the 
tobacco  should  be  allowed  to  come  in  "order"  (that  is, 


CURING  TOBACCO.  217 

to  become  pliant  from  the  absorption  of  moisture),  and 
dried  out  by  fires.  This  alternation  should  be  kept  up 
for  two  or  three  weeks ;  and,  indeed,  whenever,  during 
the  fall  months,  the  tobacco  gets  very  damp,  it  should 
be  dried  out  with  fires. 

When  the  tobacco  is  taken  directly  from  the  field, 
it  should  remain  hanging  in  the  barn  for  four  or  five 
days.  Slow  fires  should  then  be  kindled  under  it,  and 
at  the  expiration  of  24  hours,  the  heat  may  be  increased, 
as  in  the  case  of  tobacco  taken  directly  from  the  scaffold 
to  the  barn. 

In  the  heavy  shipping  districts,  at  least  90  per  cent 
of  the  leaf  is  cured  by  open,  wood  fires.  Two  logs  are 


r-1 


H  H  H  H 


FIG.  59.     HORIZONTAL  VENTILATORS    FOR    PROTECTION   AGAINST  POLE 
BURN  OR  POLE  SWEAT. 

placed  side  by  side  and  the  fires  kindled  between  them. 
Small  sticks  of  wood  are  supplied,  to  lay  at  the  point  of 
contact  of  the  logs,  so  as  to  keep  them  burning.  Some 
flue-cured  tobacco  is  made  in  the  heavy  shipping  dis- 
tricts, but  scarcely  enough  to  make  note  of.  The  prin- 
ciple and  method  of  flue  curing  will  be  fully  discussed 
under  the  head  of  yellow  tobacco.  Flues  may  be  built, 
in  a  barn  20x20  feet,  for  about  $15.00,  including  chim- 
neys for  carrying  off  the  smoke. 


218  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

It  should  never  be  forgotten  that  the  object  in 
curing  is  not  so  much  to  dry  the  leaf  as  to  fix,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  qualities  of  the  leaf  as  to  color,  strength, 
elasticity  and  flavor.  Even  the  texture  may  be  improved 
by  judicious  management  in  curing.  To  begin  the  fires 
too  early,  makes  the  leaf  starchy  and  stiff.  To  make 
the  fire  too  hot  in  the  beginning,  makes  a  bluish,  unde- 
sirable color.  The  desired  flexibility  and  softness  of  the 
stem,  fiber  and  tissue  of  the  leaf  cannot  be  secured 
unless  the  curing  process  is  made  gradual.  To  make 
hot  fires  under  the  plants,  before  they  have  sufficiently 
yellowed,  would  be  to  impair  the  value  of  the  article 
fully  one  half,  if  not  more.  Gentle  fires  for  the  first  24 
hours  are  positively  necessary,  to  bring  about  the  best 
qualities  in  the  leaf.  To  delay  firing  too  long  would 
increase  the  liability  of  injury  from  "house  burn." 
Care  should  be  taken  that  the  fires  are  managed  so  as 
not  to  emit  much  blaze,  for  there  is  always  a  danger  of 
setting  the  dried  tobacco  on  fire.  Tobacco  cut  in  wet 
weather,  when  full  of  sap,  requires  a  longer  time  to 
cure.  The  danger  from  "  house  burn  "  is  also  increased. 

Sometimes,  after  the  tobacco  has  been  cured,  it  is 
necessary,  in  humid  weather,  to  keep  up  fires  to  prevent 
a  change  of  color  by  the  running  of  the  sap  in  the 
leaves.  Piebald  or  yellow  tobacco  should  be  dried  out 
whenever  it  grows  very  limp.  Otherwise,  the  color  will 
change  to  a  red,  or  a  reddish-brown,  or  yellow.  When 
all  the  stalks  and  stems  are  thoroughly  cured,  the 
tobacco  may  be  packed  down,  and  in  this  way  all  colors 
may  be  preserved.  Small  barns  for  fire  curing  are  better 
than  large  ones,  because  they  can  be  filled  in  a  short 
time,  and  the  curing  will  begin  with  all  the  plants 
simultaneously.  The  quality  of  the  crop  will  be  made 
uniform  as  to  color  and  softness  of  leaf. 

Open  fire  heat  is  preferred  for  all  tobacco  to  be 
shipped  abroad.  The  pores  of  the  leaf  are  filled  with  a 


CUEING  TOBACCO.  219 

carbonaceous  matter  that  has  a  preservative  effect.  It 
has  long  been  known  that  fire  and  smoke  cured  tobacco 
will  withstand  an  ocean  voyage,  and  go  through  the 
sweat,  or  fermentation,  much  better  than  tobacco  that 
is  air  cured.  The  firmness  and  solidity  of  structure  of 
leaf,  as  well  as  its  strength,  are  preserved.  The  porous 
system  is  filled  with  creosotic  compounds,  and  the 
absorptive  capacity  of  the  leaf  is  greatly  diminished  from 
what  it  would  be  by  air,  sun  or  flue  curing. 

In  air-cured  tobacco,  of  which  there  is  a  consid- 
erable amount  made  in  heavy  shipping  districts,  the 
natural  flavor  of  the  leaf  is  better  preserved,  and  its 
porous  system  is  greatly  developed,  so  as  to  absorb  and 
retain  a  large  percentage  of  the  artificial  flavorings  with 
which  it  is  tested  in  the  process  of  manufacturing. 

CUEING  WHITE   BURLEY   TOBACCO. 

As  a  general  rule,  no  artificial  heat  is  employed  in 
curing  White  Burley  tobacco.  From  six  to  eight  weeks 
are  required  to  complete  the  process,  by  the  ordinary 
methods  of  air  curing  in  the  barns  provided  with  ample 
facilities  for  ventilation.  If  the  weather  is  very  dry,  to 
prevent  curing  too  rapidly,  all  openings  should  be  closed 
during  the  day  and  opened  during  the  night.  During 
wet  weather  and  when  house  burn  has  begun,  or  is 
feared,  all  possible  ventilation  should  be  given,  by 
throwing  open  the  doors  and  windows.  Passages 
through  the  tobacco  hanging  in  the  barn  should  also  be 
made,  in  order  that  the  air  may  find  free  access  to  every 
part.  Sometimes,  when  house  burn  is  threatened, 
small  charcoal  fires  are  built  in  the  barn,  during  very 
wet  weather,  though  this  is  an  unusual  practice,  and  is 
rarely  resorted  to.  If  the  season  should  be  very  dry, 
during  the  period  of  curing,  the  tobacco  will  be  variable 
in  color ;  if  too  wet,  the  color  will  be  too  dark  ;  but  after 
being  housed,  if  the  weather  is  fair,  with  occasional 


220 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


FIG. 


MOTHS  OF  CUTWORMS. 


A,  Moth  of  dingy  cutworm  ( Feltia  jaculifera) ;  B,  another  species  of  dingy  cut- 
worm (Feltia  tubgothica),  both  one  and  one-half  times  natural  size;  C,  moth  of 
traveling  cutworm  (Feltia  gladiaria),  two  and  one-fourth  times  natural  size. 
Other  varieties  and  species  of  these  moths  differ  but  slightly  from  these  in  the 
eyes  of  all  except  the  scientist. 


CURING  TOBACCO.  221 

showers,  the  tobacco  will  cure  a  beautiful  bright,  golden- 
red  color.  Much  the  same  methods  are  to  be  followed 
in  curing  Burley  as  is  the  case  with  cigar  leaf  or  seed- 
leaf. 

CURING  SEEDLEAF  TOBACCO. 

The  method  of  curing  practiced  in  the  cigar  tobacco 
sections  of  the  United  States,  also  Cuba  and  Sumatra, 
is  entirely  air  curing, — it  is  accomplished  by  regulating 
the  air  and  moisture,  by  opening  or  closing  doors  or 
shutters  in  the  barn.  Fire  curing,  that  is,  by  the  aid  of 
artificial  heat,  or  sun  curing,  by  exposure  to  the  direct 
rays  of  the  sun,  is  seldom  practiced.  The  modified 
Snow  process  has  been  tried  with  doubtful  results, 
although  at  the  Pennsylvania  experiment  station  "the 
general  character  of  the  rapidly  cured  leaf  was  not 
inferior  to  that  more  slowly  cured,  and  the  dangers  of 
disease  were  removed."  The  Wisconsin  experiment 
station  favors  artificial  control  of  temperature  and 
humidity,  after  two  years'  experience  with  it,  but  does 
not  state  how  leaf  so  cured  came  out  of  the  sweat,  or 
fermentation  process,  necessary  after  curing  to  fit  the 
leaf  for  cigar  making.  In  the  Miami  valley,  a  few 
planters  put  small,  coal  stoves  into  their  barns,  with 
pipe  running  up  through  the  roof,  and  keep  up  a  gentle 
heat  during  very  rainy  weather  or  a  long-continued 
damp  spell,  admitting  cold  air  at  bottom  and  opening 
ventilators  at  top  to  carry  off  the  hot,  moist  air.  Un- 
doubtedly this  same  method  of  artificial  control  will  be 
perfected  to  reduce  pole  sweat,  pole  burn  or  white  veins. 

But  the  system  now  in  vogue  is  that  which  has  pre- 
vailed for  years.  It  has  been  improved  by  greater  care 
in  the  construction  of  barns,  but  it  is  at  best  a  crude 
and  imperfect  method,  and  one  requiring  vigilant 
attention  to  details,  and  a  nice  perception  of  alterations 
of  temperature  and  moisture,  to  properly  carry  out.  Yet 


222  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

so  skillful  have  the  growers  become,  even  with  this 
crude  process,  that  a  good  cure  can  be  expected  in  the 
vast  majority  of  cases,  unless  the  crop  has  been  dam- 
aged, or  improperly  grown  in  the  field,  and  unless  exces- 
sive fogs  and  dampness  prevail  at  curing  time.  It  is  a 
phase  in  the  existence  of  the  crop  that  is  looked  forward 
to  with  great  anxiety,  and  the  grower  breathes  a  sigh  of 
relief  when  the  curing  is  safely  over  and  the  crop  is 
stripped  and  cased  without  injury. 

The  first  point  to  avoid  is  the  too  rapid  drying  of 
the  leaf.  Drying  is  not  curing,  and  the  terms  are  in  no 
way  synonymous.  The  change  of  color  and  condition 
in  the  leaf  is  largely  due  to  a  process  of  fermentation, 
which  takes  place  in  the  hanging  tobacco,  and  for  which 
a  certain  amount  of  moisture  in  the  leaf  is  necessary. 
If  the  leaf  is  dried  too  rapidly,  this  fermentation  is 
either  prevented  altogether,  or  checked  to  some  extent, 
thereby  affecting  the  result  disastrously.  As  far  as  pos- 
sible, the  air  in  the  shed,  during  the  whole  curing  proc- 
ess, should  be  kept  in  such  a  condition  that  the  tobacco 
will  never  become  quite  dry  and  brittle  ;  it  should  never 
crumble  when  handled.  To  this  end,  after  the  first  two 
weeks  following  the  hanging,  the  sheds  should  be  kept 
tightly  closed  during  dry  weather,  and  if  opened  it 
should  be  at  night,  or  for  a  while  upon  damp  and  misty 
days.  If  the  buildings  are  kept  closed,  the  great  amount 
of  moisture  evaporated  from  the  tobacco  will  keep  the 
air  sufficiently  damp,  even  in  dry  weather. 

The  second  principle  is  to  keep  the  air  in  the  shed 
from  excessive  dampness,  which,  with  heat,  causes  a 
destructive  fermentation  or  rotting,  which  is  entirely 
different  from  the  fermentation  of  the  curing  process. 
For  this  reason,  the  buildings  should  be  kept  well 
opened  and  ventilated  the  first  week  or  two  after  hang- 
ing, that  the  fresh  currents  of  air  may  carry  off  the 
large  amount  of  moisture  evaporating  from  the  tobacco, 


CUEING    TOBACCO. 


223 


and  also  check  any  tendency  to  excessive  heating.  Dur- 
ing the  whole  time  of  curing,  after  any  protracted  time 
of  damp  or  warm,  muggy  weather,  the  sheds  should  be 
opened,  until  the  tobacco  is  partially  dried  off.  To 
carry  out  both  these  principles,  the  shed  should  be  so 
constructed  as  to  permit  of  its  being  tightly  closed  and 
also  of  its  being  opened  and  thoroughly  'ventilated. 
Light  should  be  carefully  excluded  during  the  curing 
process,  especially  in  its  later  stages,  as  it  is  found  that 


FIG.  61.    TRAVELING  CUTWORM.    One  and  one-half  times  natural  size. 

strong  light  has  an  injurious  effect  upon  the  color  of  the 
leaf. 

Even  under  the  most  favorable  conditions,  a  suc- 
cessful cure  will  depend  largely  upon  good  management. 
Tobacco  is  very  rapidly  dried  out  by  means  of  a  constant 
current  of  air,  especially  if  this  air  is  heated,  undergoes 
very  little  if  any  chemical  change,  and  retains  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree  its  green  color.  Moreover,  since 
the  process  of  fermentation  in  bulk,  accompanied  by 
heat,  depends  upon  and  must  be  preceded  by  the 
changes  in  the  leaf  produced  by  gradual  curing,  it 


224  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

follows  that  tobacco  that  has  been  too  rapidly  dried 
loses,  to  a  large  extent,  its  ability  to  pass  through  the 
subsequent  sweating  process,  and  the  tobacco  remains 
permanently  of  a  greenish  color.  If  the  tobacco  is  cured 
in  a  current  of  air,  care  being  taken  not  to  drive  the 
moisture  out  too  rapidly,  a  change  takes  place  in  the 
interior  of  the  leaf  that  changes  the  color  from  green  to 
brown.  Finally,  if  tobacco  is  hung  too  closely,  so  as  to 
prevent  the  free  access  of  air,  the  color  still  changes  from 
green  to  brown,  but  by  a  different  process  of  fermentation, 
the  leaf  loses  its  tenacity  and  elasticity,  becomes  subject 
to  pole  burn  and  is  more  or  less  spoiled  by  rot. 

The  time  required  for  "curing  down"  tobacco 
varies  very  greatly  from  year  to  year.  Some  seasons  it 
progresses  very  rapidly, — so  much  so  that  a  cure  is  com- 
pleted in  from  six  to  eight  weeks ;  again,  it  is  slower, 
and  three  or  four  months  are  required.  As  a  rule,  quick 
curing  is  the  best.  It  can  only  be  accomplished  when 
all  the  conditions  are  favorable.  The  seasons  of  1891 
and  1892  were  remarkable  for  the  rapid  cures,  and  the 
result  of  the  cures  in  these  years  was  unusually  satis- 
factory. Some  years,  however,  the  conditions  are  ab- 
normally bad,  such  as  was  the  case  in  1872,  when  dense, 
heavy  fogs  settled  over  the  Connecticut  valley  during 
the  curing  season,  and  the  crop  rotted  on  the  poles,  in 
spite  of  all  that  could  be  done  to  save  it.  This  has  gone 
down  in  the  legends  of  the  tobacco  growers  as  the  "bad 
year  of  '72."  It  is  thus  seen  that  very  much  depends 
upon  the  temperature  and  moisture  of  the  outside 
atmosphere,  although  these  conditions  can  be  controlled 
to  some  extent,  and  often  to  a  sufficient  extent  to  effect 
a  cure.  But  even  with  the  best  of  care  and  the  most 
favorable  management,  atmospheric  conditions  may  pre- 
vail that  render  any  curing  abortive. 

Goff  has  shown  that  in  Wisconsin  green  seedleaf 
tobacco  loses  about  71  per  cent  of  its  weight  during  the 


CUBING  TOBACCO. 


curing  process.  The  rate  at  which  the  water  passes  off 
gradually  increases  from  the  time  the  leaves  are  well 
wilted  until  they  assume  the  brown  color.  The  water 
appears  to  be  set  free  by  the  leaves,  rather  than  ex- 
tracted from  them  by  drying.  The  changes  in  color  of 
tobacco  leaves  during  the  curing  process  are  not  the 
result  of  drying,  but  of  certain  changes  within  the 
leaves  themselves.  Riper  tobacco  yields  a  lighter  color 
of  cured  leaf  than  that  which  is  less  mature.  Leaves 


FIG.  62.    BUD  WORM  (Heliothis  armiger). 

in  its  cell  underground;  male 

that  become  spotted  with  yellow  before  cutting,  will 
produce  a  cured  leaf  that  is  mottled  with  varying  shades 
of  brown.  The  lower  leaves  on  the  plant  usually  cure 
lighter  than  the  upper  ones,  because  they  are  riper. 

The  period  of  most  rapid  escape  of  water  from  cur- 
ing tobacco  is  in  the  browning  stage,  i.   e.,  while  the 
color  is  changing  from   yellow  to  brown,   while   with 
tobacco  that  is  well  wilted  at  the  time  it  is  hung,  the 
15 


226  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

escape  of  water  from  the  leaves  is  at  first  comparatively 
slow.  Goff  thinks  this  "furnishes  a  warrant  for  the 
practice  of  many  intelligent  tobacco  growers,  who  hold 
that  it  is  better  to  keep  the  curing  house  nearly  closed 
for  a  time  after  the  tobacco  is  hung,  and  that  it  should 
be  gradually  opened  as  the  curing  proceeds,"  but  of 
course  this  point  depends  to  some  extent  upon  atmos- 
pheric conditions,  if  the  leaf  is  to  be  cured  naturally. 

Artificial  Curing. — Frear  modified  the  yellow  cur- 
ing process  for  seedleaf  at  the  Pennsylvania  station 
(referred  to  heretofore),  as  follows,  getting  a  complete 
cure  in  about  16  days  : 


Period. 

Hours. 

Advancement  of  Curing. 

Temper- 
ature. 

Humid- 
ity. 

Deg.  F. 

Percent. 

B 

42 

To  first  browning, 

76-91 
91-96 

69-85 
78-86 

C 
D 

24 
72 

To  development  of  tobacco  odor, 
To  end  of  sweating, 

96-97 
93-99 

85-93 
92-96 

E 

216 

To  completion  of  cure, 

98-108 

95-41 

318 

In  this  work,  no  great  difference  in  yield  of  cured 
leaf  was  found  in  artificial  over  natural  curing.  But 
the  former  gave  a  leaf  tissue  and  veins  as  thin  as  the 
slow  air-curing  process  does.  The  final  thickness  seems 
chiefly  determined  by  the  conditions  under  which  the 
plant  was  grown. 

Wisconsin  Experiments. — Two  years'  work  at  the 
Wisconsin  experiment  station,  by  E.  S.  Goff,  have 
brought  out  the  following  valuable  points. 

Moist  air  is  lighter  than  dryer  air  at  a  given  temper- 
ature, and  hence  tends  to  rise.  Comparatively  dry  air 
entering  the  curing  house  near  the  ground  and  coming 
in  contact  with  tobacco  that  is  giving  off  moisture,  as  it 
absorbs  this  water  will  gradually  rise  through  the  build- 
ing, absorbing  more  and  more  moisture  in  its  course, 
until  it  reaches  the  roof.  It  is  important,  therefore, 
not  only  that  the  curing  house  shall  contain  ventilators 
through  the  roof  or  in  the  gables,  but  that  these  be  so 


CUEING    TOBACCO.  227 

made  that  they  can  be  opened  and  closed  at  will,  because 
these  furnish  an  efficient  means  for  controlling  the  hu- 
midity, providing  the  weatherboarding  of  the  building 
is  tight,  as  it  should  be.  In  ordinary  weather,  it  is 
probably  better  to  use  only  the  ventilating  doors  near 
the  ground,  and  the  roof  ventilators,  leaving  the  higher 
side  doors  closed,  except  as  an  emergency  seems  to  require 
special  ventilation,  and  the  control  may  be  mainly  exer- 
cised by  the  roof  ventilators,  since  by  opening  or  closing 
these  more  or  less,  the  air,  as  it  rises  between  the  hanging 
tobacco  plants,  may  be  compelled  to  rise  more  or  less 
rapidly,  as  desirable.  But  it  should  be  remembered, 
that  when  the  external  air  is  very  moist,  as  in  rainy 


V 

FIG.  63.    TREE  CRICKET  (GEcanthus  nlveus). 
The  plate  at  right  is  the  male,  viewed  from  above.    At  the  left,  female,  side  view. 


weather,  this  upward  current  of  air  will  largely  cease, 
because  the  absorption  of  water  from  the  tobacco  will  be 
greatly  checked.  At  such  times,  the  temperature  of  the 
air  between  the  plants  must  be  raised,  to  restore  normal 
absorption,  and  the  only  way  to  do  this  is  to  provide 
artificial  heat.  Placing  lighted  lamps  beneath  the  roof 
ventilators  will  help  to  produce  an  upward  current  of 
air,  as  was  proved  in  our  experiments,  but  this  will  not 
avail  to  prevent  pole  burn  if  the  air  that  enters  the 
building  is  already  on  the  verge  of  saturation. 

The  curing  house  should  be  enclosed  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  the  amount  of  external  air  that  enters  it  is  un- 
der control,  and  should  be  provided  with  some  kind  of 
heating  apparatus  -that  renders  it  possible  to  reduce  the 
humidity  of  the  air  in  wet  weather.  To  ascertain 


228  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

whether  the  air  is  too  humid,  hang  a  psychrometer 
(Fig.  57)  between  the  plants  in  a  central  part  of  the 
barn.  The  wet  bulb  in  this  instrument  should  show  a 
depression  below  the  dry  bulb  of  not  less  than  one  and 
one-half  or  more  than  two  degrees.  If  the  wet  bulb 
shows  a  greater  depression,  it  indicates  that  the  air  is  so 
nearly  saturated  with  moisture  tha,t  it  can  no  longer 
take  up  the  water  given  off  by  the  leaves.  This  is  the 
condition  that  induces  pole  burn.  Now  apply  artificial 
heat  to  dry  the  air,  opening  the  upper  ventilators  to 
carry  off  the  heated  moist  air,  and  the  danger  will  be 
averted.  Keep  up  the  heat  until  the  psychrometer  gets 
back  to  the  desired  standard — wet  bulb  not  less  than 
one  or  more  than  two  degrees  below  dry  bulb. 

From  these  Wisconsin  experiments,  the  conclusion 
seems  warrantable,  that  with  a  temperature  within  the 
curing  house  of  not  exceeding  75°  F.,  a  degree  of  atmos- 
pheric humidity  represented  by  a  wet  bulb  depression  of 
one  and  one-half  degrees,  when  the  psychrometer  is  be- 
tween the  plants,  and  is  not  exposed  to  unusual  air  cur- 
rents, does  not  endanger  the  tobacco  to  pole  burn,  and 
that  an  occasional  variation  to  one  degree  is  safe,  at 
least  if  not  prolonged.  But  a  wet  bulb  depression  of 
less  than  one  degree  is  dangerous,  and  if  prolonged,  is 
almost  sure  to  result  in  pole  burn.  It  will  be  wise  to 
make  one  and  one-half  degrees  of  depression  for  the  wet 
bulb  the  minimum,  rather  than  one  degree,  not  because 
one  degree  is  dangerous,  but  because  it  provides  too  lit- 
tle margin  between  the  safety  and  danger  limits.  The 
atmosphere  throughout  the  curing  house  cannot  be 
changed  immediately  by  starting  the  fires,  and  if  these 
are  started  as  soon  as  the  wet  bulb  depression  becomes 
less  than  one  and  one-half  degrees,  if  the  weather  is 
becoming  rapidly  damper,  it  might  sometimes  be 
difficult  to  prevent  the  atmosphere  within  from  be- 
coming so  damp  as  to  register  less  than  one  degree 


CURING   TOBACCO. 


229 


of  depression  for  the  wet  bulb  before  the  fires  could 
prevent  it. 

After  two  seasons'  trial  of  this,  what  may  be  called 
scientific,  method  of  curing,  GofE  feels  warranted  "in 
commending  it  to  the  attention  of  all  who  aim  to  pro- 


ne. 64.     LEAF  INJURED    BY  RED-LEGOEP   GRASSHOPPER. 

duce  the  first  quality  of  air-cured  cigar  tobacco.  It  has 
the  advantage  of  curing  the  crop  under  the  best  known 
conditions,  and  hence,  of  developing  the  highest  possible 
quality.  It  demands  a  somewhat  more  expensive  build- 


230  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

ing,  and  a  greater  amount  of  care  and  intelligence  than 
the  average  Wisconsin  tobacco  grower  has  been  accus- 
tomed to  devote  to  his  crop.  But  'what  is  worth  doing 
at  all  is  worth  doing  well,'  and  as  a  rule,  a  business 
will  prove  most  profitable  when  conducted  in  the  best 
manner." 

On  a  single  morning  during  the  curing  season,  a 
very  perceptible  odor  of  pole  bum  pervaded  the  build- 
ing, and  the  wet  bulb  depression  was  considerably  less 
than  one  degree.  But  fire  was  immediately  started,  and 
in  twenty-four  hours  the  ominous  odor  was  almost  en- 
tirely dispelled,  while  the  psychrometer  registered  a  frac- 
tion over  one  degree.  A  very  slight  amount  of  pole- 
burned  tobacco  was  found  in  the  crop,  but  not  more 
than  is  usually  found  in  dry  seasons,  while  the  general 
quality,  so  far  as  the  curing  was  concerned,  was  pro- 
nounced superior. 

The  heating  apparatus  for  this  purpose  may  be  like 
that  used  in  the  Snow  barn  (see  Fig.  43),  or  in  the  Yel- 
low tobacco  barn  (Fig.  3D).  Another  arrangement  is 
that  suggested  by  G-off,  as  shown  in  Fig.  58,  which  is 
especially  adapted  to  tobacco  barns  now  in  use.  It  can 
be  put  in  at  a  first  cost  of  $25  to  $75,  according  to  the  size 
of  the  house.  The  increased  value  of  a  single  crop  saved 
from  a  severe  attack  of  pole  burn  by  this  system  would 
more  than  repay  the  cost,  and  if,  by  being  able  to  ex- 
clude hot  and  dry  winds,  the  crop  may  be  cured  slowly 
in  dry  seasons,  the  apparatus  may  be  made  to  pay  for 
itself  every  year.  We  are  not  aware  that  the  experiment 
has  ever  been  tried  in  this  country,  but  it  would  be  feasi- 
ble to  provide  pans,  or  tubs,  of  water  on  the  floor  of  the 
tobacco  house,  which,  by  evaporating,  would  furnish 
the  necessary  humidity  during  a  hot  and  dry  period 
that  otherwise  might  cure  the  tobacco  too  quickly. 
With  the  heating  apparatus,  tobacco  may  be  hung  a 
little  closer  than  would  otherwise  be  prudent,  thus 


CUEING    TOBACCO.  231 

permitting  a  somewhat  smaller  building  for  a  given 
acreage. 

If  a  new  curing  house  is  to  be  provided  with  the 
heating  apparatus,  it  would  be  well  to  build  it  two  feet 
higher  than  the  needs  of  the  tobacco  alone  would  re- 
quire, to  provide  more  room  for  the  pipes  beneath  the 
lower  tier.  GofE  thinks  a  curing  house  100  feet  long 
would  be  sufficiently  warmed  with  four  36-inch  box 
stoves,  carrying  seven-inch  pipe,  placed  as  shown  in 
Fig.  58.  The  stove  should  be  let  into  a  little  basement, 
bricked  or  stoned  up  beneath  the  sills.  The  pipes 
should  start  from  the  ground  level,  and  rise  eight  or  ten 
inches  to  the  rod.  If  they  come  in  the  way  of  hanging 
tobacco,  remove  a  sufficient  number  of  plants  to  make 
room.  They  may  be  supported  on  temporary  brick 
piers,  or  suspended  by  wires  from  the  poles  carrying  the 
tobacco.  That  portion  of  the  pipes  extending  outside 
of  the  building  will  be  more  durable  if  made  of  galva- 
nized iron,  and  should  be  capped  with  spark  arresters, 
but  the  remainder  may  be  of  common  sheet  iron.  No 
difficulty  is  experienced  in  securing  a  good  draft,  and  if 
the  tobacco  is  not  hung  too  thickly,  the  humidity  of  the 
air  in  a  tight  tobacco  barn  will  be  found  to  respond  read- 
ily to  the  heat  from  the  stoves,  even  where  a  very  little 
fire  is  used.  After  the  curing  is  completed,  the  pipes 
are  taken  down  and  stored  for  use  next  year. 

Curing  Leaf  Alone  vs.  Curing  on  Stalk. — The  bulk 
of  the  cigar  leaf  grown  in  the  United  States  is  cured  on 
the  stalk, — that  is,  the  plant  is  cut  up  at  the  bottom, 
allowed  to  wilt,  and  then  the  entire  plant  is  hung  in  the 
barn,  as  described  in  the  chapter  on  cigar  leaf.  In  Flor- 
ida, however,  the  crop  is  largely  harvested  leaf  by  leaf, 
as  described  in  the  chapter  on  Florida  tobacco.  The 
cost  of  handling  each  leaf  separately  was  about  one-third 
higher  than  by  the  stalk  system,  at  the  Pennsylvania  sta- 
tion, and  was  quite  as  large  at  the  North  Carolina  station 


232  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

(see  Page  216).  Wagner  declares  that  "if  the  leaf  is 
picked  before  it  is  ripe,  it  needs  a  process  of  subsequent 
ripening  to  give  it  a  good  quality.  This  is  impossible  if 
the  leaf  is  separated  from  the  stalk,  but  it  takes  place  to 
perfection  under  the  American  method"  (the  leaves 
cured  while  still  attached  to  the  stalk) ;  but  if  the  leaf 
process  is  used,  the  leaf  would  certainly  not  be  picked 
before  it  is  ripe.  German  authorities  maintain  that  the 
weight  of  tobacco  leaves  cured  on  the  stalk  is  15  per 
cent  greater  than  that  of  leaves  cured  separate  from  the 
stalk,  due  to  the  translocation  of  matter  from  stalk  to 
leaf  during  ripening  after  the  harvest.  Behrens,  how- 
ever, has  shown  that  the  current  of  solids  is  from  leaf  to 
vein,  thence  to  rib,  and  thence  to  stalk,  and  not  the 
reverse.  Frear  found  nothing  to  indicate  any  marked 
gain  in  weight  as  the  result  of  slow  ripening  or  curing 
on  the  stalk.  Eesults  by  Carpenter,  in  North  Carolina, 
on  yellow  leaf,  point  in  the  same  direction.  Nessler 
long  ago  pointed  out  that  the  leaf  cured  on  the 
stalk,  and  separate  from  it,  showed  no  appreciable  differ- 
ence in  weight.  At  the  Pennsylvania  station,  1000 
leaves  cured  on  the  stalk  weighed,  when  stemmed,  116 
ounces ;  1000  leaves  harvested  more  nearly  ripe,  and 
cured  leaf  by  leaf,  yielded  151  ounces  of  stemmed  leaf, 
the  precise  gain  varying  with  the  ripeness  of  the  leaves. 
It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  opinions  are  widely 
divergent,  among  both  practical  tobacco  growers  and  sci- 
entists, concerning  the  good  and  bad  points  of  the  single 
leaf  system.  Yet  the  fact  that  it  is  but  little  employed 
in  the  seedleaf  sections  is  no  argument  against  it.  Frear 
found  that  the  ripest  of  the  stalk-cured  leaves  were 
thinner  than  the  less  mature  leaves  harvested  separately. 


CHAPTEK  XI. 

PESTS  OF  TOBACCO— DISEASES,  INSECTS,  THE   ELEMENTS. 

Following  the  chapter  on  curing,  we  will  first  dis- 
cuss the  troubles  or  diseases  that  are  met  with  in  curing 
tobacco.  Chief  among  these  is  pole  burn.  ''This  trouble," 
says  E.  S.  Goff,  "appears  as  dark  spots  near  the  mid- 
rib or  vein ;  under  favorable  conditions  it  spreads  rap- 
idly, discoloring  and  rotting  the  whole  leaf,  and  often 
destroying  the  entire  crop  in  24  to  36  hours.  It  is 
caused  by  two  fungous  enemies  :  First,  a  sort  of  mold, 
which  attacks  the  outside  of  the  leaf  and  lays  the  inte- 
rior open  to  the  invasion  of  bacteria,  which  (second) 
then  develop  rapidly,  causing  the  principal  mischief. 
The  development  of  the  disease  is  chiefly  controlled  by 
atmospheric  conditions,  being  most  probable  in  rather 
warm,  very  humid  air.  A  nearly  cured,  dry  leaf  is  not 
liable  to  attack.  A  temperature  above  100°  F.,  or  below 
40°,  greatly  retards  its  activity ;  but  one  of  ?0°-90°  is 
most  favorable.  If  we  can  control  moisture  and  tem- 
perature conditions,  we  can  prevent  injury  from  this 
otherwise  menacing  enemy."  Examination  shows  that 
the  leaves  have  changed  from  a  greenish -yellow  to  a 
dark  brown  or  almost  black  color,  that  the  fine  texture 
has  disappeared,  and  that  instead  of  being  tough  and 
elastic,  the  whole  leaf  is  wet  and  soggy,  and  tears  almost 
with  a  touch,  falling  of  its  own  weight  from  the  stalk. 

Something  has  been  done  at  the  Wisconsin  exper- 
iment station  to  combat  this  disease  (as  described  in  the 
preceding  chapter),  and  considerable  has  been  accom- 
plished at  the  Connecticut  station  by  Dr.  W.  C.  Sturgis. 


234  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

It  appears  from  his  work,  as  well  as  from  the  experience 
of  practical  growers,  that  a  crop  is  very  seldom  cured  at 
the  North  without  showing  some  traces  of  disease. 
Even  during  the  most  favorable  seasons,  the  disease 
makes  its  appearance  in  the  center  of  the  curing  barn, 
where  the  temperature  is  higher,  and  the  moisture  more 
retained  in  and  about  the  leaves,  whereas,  in  unfavorable 
seasons,  the  loss  often  amounts  to  practically  the  entire 
crop.  Nor  is  it  confined  to  the  seedleaf  sections,  being 
common  in  the  heavy  shipping  and  yellow  districts.  It 
is  not  the  mold  (Cladisporium)  that  does  the  mischief 
so  much  as  the  bacteria,  which  cause  the  rapid  decay. 
Sturgis  found  that  warmth  as  well  as  moisture  is  con- 
ducive to  pole  burn,  and  this  fact  emphasizes  the  neces- 
sity of  securing  good  circulation  of  air  in  the  curing 
barn,  and  especially  when  artificial  heat  is  employed. 
All  attempts  to  inoculate  thoroughly  cured  tobacco  with 
bacteria  of  pole  burn  were  failures.  Sturgis  regards 
this  as  partial  confirmation  of  the  generally  expressed 
view,  that  when  tobacco  has  cured  to  a  certain  degree, 
the  period  varying  from  ten  days  to  three  weeks  after 
hanging,  there  is  very  little  danger  of  pole  burn. 

The  remedy  for  pole  burn  has  already  been  de- 
scribed in  the  chapter  on  curing.  It  is  to  get  rid  of  the 
excess  of  warmth  and  moisture,  which  can  only  be  done 
by  a  complete  system  of  ventilation.  For  this  purpose, 
Sturgis  strongly  endorses  horizontal  ventilators  near  the 
ground,  a  similar  row  for  each  tier  of  tobacco  and  one 
or  more  large  ventilators  along  the  ridgepole.  The  ven- 
tilators in  the  walls  should  open  horizontally  at  inter- 
vals of  about  four  feet,  as  shown  in  Fig.  59.  They 
should  be  from  five  to  ten  feet  long,  one  foot  high,  hung 
from  the  upper  edge  by  strap  hinges,  so  as  to  be  raised 
and  hooked  up,  and  occupying  the  full  length  of  the 
building.  When  these  are  all  open,  the  air  will  enter 
freely,  not  only  near  the  ground,  but  also  just  below 


PESTS   OF  TOBACCO. 


235 


each  tier  of  tobacco.  Free  ventilation  in  the  roof  is 
absolutely  essential  to  allow  of  the  escape  of  warm, 
moist  air,  any  of  the  systems  outlined  in  the  chapter  on 
barns  being  available  for  this  purpose. 

"  White  Vein"  or  "Stem  Rot"  appears  in  the  latter 
stages  of  curing  cigar  leaf,  in  the  form  of  white,  velvety 
patches  of  long-piled  mold,  first  affecting  stalk  and  rib, 
and  later  destroying  the  tissue  near  the  veins  and  ribs 
and  causing  the  peculiar  white  veins.  This  disease  is 
also  due  to  a  fungus  (Botrytis  longibrachiata)  that 
thrives  upon  drying  vegetation.  "The  fungus  seldom 
reaches  maturity  on  the  curing  stalks,"  says  Sturgis, 
"for  it  requires  some  days  and  considerable  moisture  for 


FIG.  65.    RED-LEGGED  GRASSHOPPER  (Pezotettix femur-rubrum). 
Enlarged  one-fourth. 

its  complete  development,  hence  by  the  time  its  vege- 
tative threads  are  ready  to  produce  the  fruiting  branches, 
the  stalks  are  too  far  dried  to  afford  the  requisite 
nutriment.  After  the  curing  process  is  completed,  how- 
ever, the  tobacco  is  taken  down,  and  the  stalks  and 
leaves  most  seriously  affected  with  stem  rot  are 
thrown  down  on  the  floor  with  the  refuse  which  always 
remains  after  the  curing  of  a  crop  of  tobacco.  Here  on 
the  damp,  earth  floors  and  in  company  with  decaying 
stalks  and  leaves,  the  stem  rot  fungus  finds  all  the 
conditions  favorable  to  its  further  development.  The 
fungus  spreads  among  the  refuse,  and  produces  its  spores 
in  enormous  quantities.  It  is  not  unusual  upon  enter- 


236  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

ing  a  barn,  even  during  this  process  of  curing,  to  find 
the  floor  partially  covered  with  the  refuse  of  the  pre- 
vious year's  crop,  the  latter  often  looking  as  though  a 
fall  of  snow  had  whitened  it,  so  densely  is  it  covered 
with  the  mold  and  spores  of  this  fungus.  The  slightest 
current  of  air  serves  to  separate  the  spores  from  their 
attachment,  and  carry  them  through  the  barn,  some 
finding  lodgment  upon  and  at  once  infecting  the  curing 
stems  and  leaves,  others  being  deposited  on  the  beams 
or  walls  of  the  barn  and  there  remaining  to  propagate 
the  disease  another  year. 

"Against  such  a  pest,  absolute  cleanliness  is  the  best 
and  simplest  precaution.  After  the  crop  is  cured,  all 
the  diseased  stems  and  leaves  should  be  carefully  col- 
lected and  at  once  burned,  before  the  fungus  has 
reached  maturity.  All  the  refuse  remaining  on  the 
floor  of  the  barn  should  then  be  thoroughly  gathered  to- 
gether and  burned,  and  the  floor  should  be  liberally 
sprinkled  with  a  mixture  consisting  of  equal  parts  of 
dry,  air-slaked  lime  and  sulphur.  If  the  floor  is  of 
earth,  covering  it  to  the  depth  of  an  inch  with  clean, 
dry  earth  would  prevent  the  dissemination  of  the  spores 
through  the  air.  A  more  effectual  method  of  reaching 
the  spores  in  all  parts  of  the  barn  would  be  fumigation 
by  means  of  sulphur,  kept  boiling  for  two  or  three 
hours  in  any  iron  vessel  over  a  small  kerosene  stove.  In 
the  larger  barns  it  would  be  advisable  to  have  three  or 
four  such  stoves,  and  keep  the  sulphur  boiling  simul- 
taneously in  different  parts  of  the  barn ;  of  course  dur- 
ing the  process  of  fumigation  the  building  must  be 
kept  tightly  closed,  so  that  the  fumes  may  thoroughly 
penetrate  every  part.  If  this  were  done  once,  after  the 
removal  of  the  cured  tobacco,  and  again  the  following 
season,  a  fortnight  before  the  tobacco  is  harvested,  the 
danger  from  stem  rot  or  white  vein  would  be  largely 
decreased,  if  not  entirely  obviated." 


PESTS   OF   TOBACCO. 


237 


White  veins,  as  a  disease,  is  confined  to  the  seed- 
leaf  and  Havana-seed  varieties,  and  is  much  dreaded, 
because  it  greatly  impairs  the  value  of  the  tobacco  in 
which  it  occurs.  White  veins  in  the  districts  growing 
yellow  tobacco  are  desired,  because  they  add  to  the 
beauty  and  value  of  the  yellow  product. 

Leprosy  is  the  common  name  applied  to  a  greenish 
fungous  growth  that  attacks  curing  tobacco  in  the  lower 


FIG.  66.     TOBACCO  MINER, 
a,  Adult  moth;  b,  worm ;  and  c,  part  of  leaf  damaged  by  this  worm. 

Ohio  districts  of  Kentucky.  The  fungi  increase  with 
amazing  rapidity,  and  they  extend  even  to  sound,  dry 
tobacco  in  proximity,  seriously  damaging  it.  This  is  a 
disease  that  is  doubtless  propagated  from  spores,  which 
find  congenial  lodgment  in  badly  kept  barns  or  tobacco 
sheds,  or  packing  houses.  All  old  trash  left  in  such 


238  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

places  should  be  either  hauled  out  and  spread  upon  the 
fields,  or  burned,  while  the  disinfecting  of  barns  as  just 
described  for  stem  rot  or  white  vein,  is  also  advised. 

DISEASES   OF    THE    GROWING   PLANTS. 

There  is  probably  no  crop  produced  of  the  same 
magnitude  that  suffers  so  little  from  disease  as  does 
tobacco,  and  nearly  all  these  diseases  may  be  avoided  by 
proper  care  in  the  selection  of  the  soils,  in  the  judicious 
application  of  manure,  and  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
crop.  The  greatest  number  of  diseases  to  which  the  to- 
bacco is  liable,  come  from  a  want  of  drainage  in  the 
soil.  The  diseases  rarely  affect  more  than  a  fraction  of 
one  per  cent  of  the  plants  in  a  field.  These  diseases  are 
largely  of  a  fungous  nature,  and  are  now  being  tardily 
studied  by  scientific  experts.  Their  efforts  will  ulti- 
mately give  us  a  scientific  explanation  of  the  form  or 
cause  of  the  various  diseases,  but  this  book  being  mainly 
of  a  practical  nature,  for  popular  use,  we  content  our- 
selves with  a  popular  rather  than  a  mycological  and 
physiological  treatment  of  the  subject. 

Rust  or  Fire  Blight. — The  most  common  disease  of 
tobacco  is  known  as  "Brown  rust"  or  ''Bed  field 
fire."  This  arises  from  three  causes,  viz  :  First,  over- 
ripeness  in  the  plant ;  second,  a  deprivation  of  moisture 
while  the  plant  is  in  vigorous  growth,  making  the  leaf 
perish  in  spots  for  want  of  sustenance,  and,  third,  the 
use  of  too  much  heating  manure  applied  in  the  hills, 
with  supervening  dry  weather. 

Another  field  fire  called  "  Black  fire,"  which  is 
totally  different  from  the  red  field  fire,  is  caused  by 
excessive  humidity,  and  occurs  only  after  continued 
rains  of  several  days'  duration,  with  hot  weather.  This 
black  fire  is  much  more  to  be  dreaded  than  the  brown 
rust  or.  red  field  fire,  for  it  attacks  the  plant  while 
immature,  involving  all  the  leaves,  and  necessitates  the 


PESTS   OF  TOBACCO. 


239 


240  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

cutting  of  it  before  it  is  ripe.  Sometimes  this  disease 
will  spread  over  a  field  in  two  or  three  days  and  ruin 
the  crop,  making  black,  deadened  spots  as  large  as  a 
silver  dollar,  but  this  rarely  happens.  Good  drainage 
and  a  sufficient  depth  of  soil  to  carry  off  all  superfluous 
rain  water,  are  the  only  safeguards  against  the  blight- 
ing effects  of  this  disease. 

Spotted  Leaf. — There  is  another  disease,  similar  to 
the  last,  called  "Frog  eye"  or  "White  speck,"  often 
occurring  in  tobacco  thoroughly  ripe.  It  is  sometimes 
caused  by  too  much  potash  in  the  soil,  and  sometimes 
from  the  taproot  of  the  plant  coming  in  contact  with 
an  impervious  water  plane.  This  disease  is  most  fre- 
quently seen  in  the  tobacco  grown  in  Florida.  It  was 
once  regarded  as  a  sure  indication  of  the  fineness  of  tex- 
ture in  the  leaf.  Forty  years  ago  the  Florida  wrappers 
affected  with  this  blemish  commanded  the  highest 
price  with  the  manufacturers  of  domestic  cigars.  A 
similar  trouble  at  the  North  causes  what  are  called 
"calico  plants,"  in  cigar  tobacco. 

Frenching  (from  the  French  word  friser,  to  curl) 
attacks  tobacco  grown  upon  old,  clayey  lands  inclined  to 
be  wet,  that  have  been  much  compacted  by  the  tramp- 
ing of  stock,  or  through  other  means.  Rainy  weather 
is  also  a  predisposing  cause  to  this  disease,  and  it  some- 
times manifests  itself  over  a  considerable  area,  but  if  the 
tobacco  is  closely  plowed  and  a  vigorous  pull  is  given  to 
the  plants  so  as  to  break  the  taproots,  a  large  majority 
of  them  will  recover,  if  treated  before  the  disease  has 
gone  too  far.  The  first  appearance  of  the  disease  is  seen 
in  the  buds  of  the  plants,  which  turn  to  a  honey-yellow 
color.  As  the  leaves  expand,  they  become  thick  and 
fleshy,  growing  in  long,  irregular,  narrow  strips  with 
ragged  outlines,  the  leaves  often  cupping  downward. 
When  cut  and  cured,  such  leaves  are  lifeless,  with  a 
dingy,  dead  color,  and  are  ,very  light  in  weight. 


PESTS   OF   TOBACCO.  %ll 

"Frenched"  tobacco  is  worthless  for  any  purpose  ex- 
cept as  a  substitute. 

Walloon  or  Waterloon,  is  a  disease  that  affects  the 
appearance  of  the  plant  and  causes  the  leaves,  instead  of 
curving  in  graceful  outlines,  to  stick  up  like  "foxes' 
ears,"  by  which  name  the  disease  is  known  in  some 
localities.  This  disease,  though  akin  to  Frenching, 
does  not  injure  the  tobacco  to  the  same  extent,  though 
it  reduces  the  weight  of  the  cured  product  and  impairs 
its  quality  and  color.  It  results  probably  from  deficient 
drainage. 

Hollow  Stalk. — The  overflowing  of  any  part  of  a 
tobacco  field,  though  the  water  may  stand  on  it  for  only 
a  few  hours,  will  produce  "Hollow  stalk"  and  "Sore 
shin."  Some  careful  observers  think  hollow  stalk  re- 
sults from  the  attack  of  the  wireworm  or  the  cutworm ; 
others  think  it  arises  from  the  bruising  of  the  young 
plant  or  of  injury  done  to  the  epidermis,  so  that  the  sap 
is  not  able  to  ascend  in  full  force.  It  most  probably 
arises  from  the  absorption  by  the  pith  of  an  undue 
amount  of  water,  while  partially  overflowed,  and  the 
effects  of  the  subsequent  exposure  to  the  hot  sun.  The 
disease  is  rarely  seen  upon  a  well-drained  or  porous  soil. 
The  plants  attacked  with  it  should  be  cut  at  once,  for 
they  will  never  grow  or  improve  in  any  respect 
thereafter. 

A  New  Disease  of  tobacco  is  described  by  J.  Van 
Breda  de  Haan  (in  Med.'s  Lands  Plantentuin,  No.  15, 
pp.  107,  pi.  1.).  It  has  appeared  in  Java.  The  leaves 
become  dark  spotted  and  greatly  depreciate  in  value. 
The  cause  is  attributed  to  the  fungus,  Phytophora 
nicotiana  n.  sp.  A  study  of  the  biology  of  the  parasite 
has  been  made  and  various  attempts  undertaken  for  the 
repression  of  the  disease.  The  author  thinks  it  can  be 
prevented  from  spreading,  by  careful  attention  to,  and 
frequent  change  of,  the  plant  beds,  and  by  spraying  the 
16 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


PESTS   OF.  TOBACCO.  243 

plants  with   Bordeaux  mixture,  otherwise  the  disease 
threatens  to  become  a  serious  enemy  to  tobacco  culture. 

2— INSECTS. 

The  tobacco  plant,  from  the  period  of  its  germina- 
tion until  it  is  cured,  is  preyed  upon  by  a  variety  of  in- 
sects, and  the  utmost  diligence  and  watchfulness  are 
required  by  the  grower  to  guard  against  their  depreda- 
tions. The  first  of  these  to  make  their  appearance  are 
the  so-called  "Snow  fleas,"  which  are  peculiar  to  the 
seedleaf  districts  of  the  North,  and  are  rarely  seen  south 
of  the  Ohio  and  Potomac  rivers.  The  snow  flea  has  a 
large  head  and  a  small  abdomen,  without  any  segmental 
divisions.  It  is  known  to  entomologists  as  Smynthurus 
hortensis  or  "Springtails."  The  antennae  are  three- 
fourths  as  long  as  the  body.  It  is  called  springtail  be- 
cause of  a  forked  member,  which  lies  folded  up  against 
the  underside  of  the  abdomen  near  its  end,  which  gives 
the  insect  its  great  leaping  power.  Its  power  of  rapid 
locomotion  resides  in  this  spring  tail.  These  insects  can 
stand  very  cold  weather  and  are  the  first  to  feed  upon 
the  tobacco  plant,  beginning  when  the  two  first  tiny 
leaves  appear  above  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Appli- 
cations of  the  flour  of  sulphur  are  said  to. have  the  effect 
of  driving  them  away.  They  are  rarely  ever  seen  upon 
beds  that  have  been  well  burned. 

The  Flea  Beetle  is  far  more  destructive  to  the  young 
tobacco  plant,  and  its  ravages  extend  through  every 
part  of  the  United  States  where  tobacco  is  grown.  It 
belongs  to  the  genus  Epitrix,  family  Halticidw.  Two 
species  are  described  that  attack  tobacco,  — Epilrix 
cucumeris,  and  Epitrix  pubescens.  The  first  is  black, 
with  the  exception  of  the  feet  and  antennae.  The 
second  is  more  oblong  in  form,  but  is  otherwise 
about  the  same  in  size  and  of  a  dull  black  color.  The 
feet  and  antennas  are  of  a  honey-yellow  color,  as  well  as 


244  TOBACCO   LEAP. 

the  upper  part  of  the  body,  except  a  portion  of  the  wing 
covers,  which  are  black.  The  upper  and  lower  parts  of 
the  whole  body,  with  the  exception  of  the  thorax,  are 
covered  with  a  slight  down,  from  whence  it  takes  its 
specific  name  of  pubescens.  These  insects  are  from  one- 
sixteenth  to  one-tenth  of  an  inch  in  length.  This  latter 
species  is  especially  fond  of  the  young  tobacco  plant, 
though  it  will  feed  upon  young  cotton,  cabbage  and 
potato  plants,  and  the  tender  leaves  of  all  leguminous 
plants.  When  disturbed,  the  flea  beetle  will  leap  from 


FIG.  69. 
TOBACCO  WORM  OF  THE  SOUTH  (PhlegetJiontius  Carolina), 

reduced  one-fourth. 

It  differs  from  P.  celeus  mainly  In  not  having  so  long  a  tongue,  while  Its  "jug 
handle  "  Is  not  so  long  or  so  arched  as  In  P.  celeus. 

the  plant  and  hide  itself  among  the  clods  and  in  the  dry 
dirt.  Frequently  the  plants  will  be  seen  covered  with 
them  and  the  depredations  are  made  rapidly,  a  whole 
seed  bed  being  often  destroyed  within  a  few  days. 

The  only  certain  protection  to  the  young  plants 
against  this  destructive  insect  is  to  cover  the  bed  closely 
with  canvas  as  soon  as  the  seed  is  sown,  and  close  up  all 
openings  between  the  canvas  and  the  ground.  Plants 
in  beds  are  also  sprinkled  with  powdered  lime  moistened 
with  turpentine,  or  soot,  wood  ashes  or  fine  road  dust 
may  be  used  instead  of  lime.  A  decoction  of  tobacco 


PESTS   OF   TOBACCO.  245 

stems,  heated  to  125°  R,  will  kill  all  the  fleas  it  touches, 
without  injuring  the  plants.  Until  the  practice  of 
using  canvas  coverings  was  adopted,  this  beetle  was 
more  dreaded  even  than  the  horn  worm.  The  flea 
beetle  at  the  North  is  frequently  as  destructive  to  half- 
grown  tobacco  as  to  the  potato  plant,  the  lictle  holes  it 
eats  into  the  leaves  ruining  their  quality,  if  not  kill- 
ing them  outright.  The  potato  crop  is  protected  against 
this  pest  by  spraying  with  Bordeaux  mixture,*  and  in 
bad  attacks  the  same  remedy  may  be  sprayed  upon 
tobacco. 

Cuhvorms  (Fig.  60)  are  occasionally  troublesome 
to  seed  beds  when  they  are  made  near  old  land  infested 
with  them.  Canvas  covering  is  no  protection  against 
them  under  such  conditions.  Prevention  in  this  case, 
by  preparing  the  beds  on  new  land  some  distance  from 
the  old,  is  the  best  remedy.  But  cutworms  are  some- 
times very  destructive  to  the  plants  after  tbey  are  set 
out  in  the  fields.  They  sever  the  stalks  of  the  plants 
beneath  the  surface.  Their  work  is  performed  at  night, 
or  in  the  cool  of  the  morning,  before  the  sun  begins  to 
shine  upon  the  ground,  or  late  in  the  evening,  after  the 
sun  has  set.  They  take  refuge  beneath  the  surface  of 
the  ground  when  the  sun  is  shining,  where  they  may  be 
easily  found  lying  in  a  coil.  When  grown,  they  are  from 
one  and  one-quarter  to  one  and  one-half  inches  long, 
plump  and  greasy  looking.  The  common,  white  grub  is 
familiar  to  all,  and  the  traveling  cutworm,  Fig.  61, 
may  be  even  more  destructive. 

•Bordeaux  mixture  is  made  by  combining  six  pounds  of  copper 
sulphate  and  four  pounds  of  quicklime,  with  water  to  make  fifty  gal- 
lons. The  copper  sulphate  is  dissolved  in  water  (hot,  if  prompt  action 
is  desired)  and  diluted  to  about  twenty-five  gallons.  The  fresh  lime  is 
slaked  in  water,  diluted  to  twenty-five  gallons,  and  strained  into  the 
copper  solution,  after  which  tlie  whole  is  thoroughly  stirred  with  a 
paddle.  Both  the  copper  and  the  lime  mixtures  may  be  kept  in  strong 
solution  as  stock  mixtures,  but  when  combined  should  be  promptly 
used,  as  the  Bordeaux  mixture  deteriorates  on  standing. 


246  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

Burning  the  trash  from  the  fields  before  plowing, 
and  breaking  the  land  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  are  both 
very  destructive  to  the  cutworms.  Clean  culture,  leav- 
ing nothing  to  harbor  worms  during  the  winter,  is  im- 
portant. When  tht>y  are  found  in  the  soil,  however, 
there  is  no  better  remedy  than  to  hunt  them  out  about 
each  hill  of  plants,  and  destroy  them.  Cutworms  dis- 
appear upon  the  advent  of  hot  weather.  Enclosing 
plants  with  stiff  collars  of  brown  paper,  stuck  well  into 
the  earth,  is  effective,  but  involves  much  labor.  Cut- 
worms may  be  caught  by  putting  on  each  hill,  or  every 
few  hills,  at  night,  a  bit  of  clover,  cabbage  or  other 
tender  green  stuff  the  worms  relish,  first  covering  the 
same  with  a  mixture  of  Paris  green,  one  part  to  flour 
twenty  parts,  or  dipped  in  a  pail  of  water  containing  a 
tablespoonful  of  the  poison ;  the  poison  sickens  the 
worms  so  they  won't  eat,  or  kills  them  outright.  Birds, 
chickens,  turkeys  and  pigs  are  very  fond  of  cutworms, 
and  may,  under  some  circumstances,  be  utilized  for 
their  destruction.  The  common  bluebird  is  known  to 
have  a  special  fondness  for  them,  and  will  do  valuable 
service  in  field  and  garden  if  left  unmolested.  Exam- 
ination of  the  contents  of  the  stomachs  of  the  bluebird 
shot  in  Tennessee  during  February,  showed  that  30  per 
cent  of  the  food  consisted  of  cutworms.  During  March, 
also,  its  food  has  been  found  to  contain  a  large  percent- 
age of  these  insects. 

Like  the  chinch  bug,  cutworms  are  subject  to  dis- 
eases, which  appear  to  be  caused  by  attacks  of  bacteria 
and  other  parasitic  enemies.  The  Kentucky  experiment 
station  reports  that  those  affected  with  the  trouble 
would  often  go  into  the  ground  as  if  to  change  to  pupae, 
but  instead  died,  becoming  flaccid  and  discolored,  and 
when  recently  dead  were  filled  with  a  clear,  yellowish 
fluid,  in  which  were  large  numbers  of  bacilli,  some  of 
them  in  active  motion.  It  is  hoped  that  practical 


PESTS   OF  TOBACCO.  247 

means  may  be  found  for  spreading  the  disease  among 
cutworms,  and  thus  kill  them  by  the  wholesale. 

Wireworms,  the  larvae  of  the  "Click  beetle"  or 
"Snapping  bug"  (ElateridcB),  sometimes  bore  into  the 
stalks  of  the  plants,  but  they  never  attack  the  leaves. 

The  "Bud  Worm"  (Heliothis  armigera),  Fig.  62, 
attacks  the  bud  and  tender  leaves  at  the  top  of  the  to- 
bacco plant  before  they  are  unfolded,  and  sometimes 
work  the  greatest  injury.  One  of  these  worms  may  ruin 
a  dozen  young  leaves  in  a  few  days.  Hand  picking  is 
the  only  remedy  for  tobacco,  though  carefully  spraying 
with  Paris  green  is  suggested.  These  worms  are  always 
most  destructive  in  cloudy  weather.  This  is  the  dread- 
ful bollworm  of  the  cotton  planter  and  corn  worm  of 
the  North.  The  tobacco  bud  worm  has  been  observed 
on  weeds  belonging  to  the  same  family  as  tobacco,  but 
has  not  been  generally  accounted  a  tobacco  insect.  At 
the  Kentucky  station,  worms  left  tobacco  and  went  into 
the  ground  August  10,  and  adult  moths  came  out 
August  24  and  25.  Since  their  original  food  plant  was 
probably  some  one  of  the  weeds  known  as  ground  cherry 
and  horse  nettle,  it  would  be  well  always  to  destroy  such 
plants  when  growing  about  tobacco. 

Crickets. — There  is  a  greenish  tree  cricket  ((Ecan- 
tJius  niveus),  Fig.  63,  that  occasionally  does  much 
injury  to  the  leaves  of  tobacco,  by  eating  round  holes  in 
them.  It  does  not  kill  the  leaf  or  arrest  the  growth, 
but  the  small  holes  increase  in  size  longitudinally,  as  the 
leaves  grow  in  length.  This  insect  begins  its  depreda- 
tions in  July  in  the  southern  tobacco  regions,  and  in 
August  in  Pennsylvania.  Tobacco  planted  near  trees 
suffers  most  from  its  depredations.  This  pest  infests 
blackberry  and  raspberry  canes,  and  tobacco  should  not 
be  set  near  them. 

Grasshoppers.— The  meadow  grasshopper  (Orcheli- 
tmim  vnlgare)  is  sometimes  very  destructive  on  the  to- 


248  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

bacco  plants  when  first  set  out,  and  before  they  have 
become  established  in  the  ground.  One  part  of  Paris 
green  mixed  with  twenty  parts  of  wheat  flour  and  a 
small  quantity  dusted  on  the  plants  while  the  dew  is  on 
them,  will  destroy  these  pests.  Frequent  workings  of 
the  land  will  also  drive  them  from  the  field.  All  weeds 
and  other  unnecessary  growth  likely  to  harbor  these 
pests  during  the  early  part  of  the  season,  should  be  de- 
stroyed as  a  precaution  against  late  summer  injury. 

Several  species  of  grasshoppers  are  likely  to  be  so 
starved  for  forage  that  in  July  or  early  in  August  they 
are  often  forced  to  attack  tobacco,  but  in  Kentucky  the 
greater  part  of  the  holes  gnawed  in  leaves  (Fig.  64)  is 
the  work  of  the  red-legged  grasshopper,  shown  in 
Fig.  65. 

To  kill  the  grasshoppers,  the  mixture  of  Paris  green 
above  mentioned  is  put  in  a  bag  made  of  thin  cloth, 
which  is  tied  to  the  end  of  a  pole  four  or  five  feet  long. 
Walking  between  the  rows  when  the  dew  is  on  the 
plants,  the  bag  is  held  over  each  and  a  slight  tap  given 
to  the  stick.  A  portion  of  the  mixture  falls  upon  each 
plant,  and  adheres  to  the  surface  of  the  leaves.  This 
application  is  said  to  destroy  the  grasshoppers  com- 
pletely. Too  much  of  this  mixture  should  not  be  put 
on  a  plant,  not  enough  to  make  it  whitish. 

Sucking  Bugs. — In  Pennsylvania,  and  other  seed- 
leaf  growing  districts  of  the  North,  there  is  a  class  of 
hemipterous  insects  that  puncture  the  leaves  of  the 
tobacco  plant  and  suck  out  the  juices.  One  of  these  is 
a  small,  gray  insect  or  bug,  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
long,  known  among  entomologists  as  Phytocoris  linearis. 
In  Tennessee,  and  other  southern  States,  this  species 
feeds  upon  the  parsnip,  the  tomato  and  the  cabbage 
plant,  but  rarely  on  the  tobacco  plant.  A  larger  insect, 
belonging  to  the  family  Scutelleridce,  known  as  the 
Euschistus  pimcticeps,  preys  upon  mullens.  thistles  and 


PESTS   OF  TOBACCO.  249 

other  weeds  as  well  as  upon  the  tobacco  plant,  but  its 
injuries  do  not  seem  to  be  so  decided  as  the  first  named. 
These  bugs  make  very  small  holes  in  the  leaf,  but  the 
damage  resulting  from  them  is  inconsiderable. 

The  Tobacco  Miner  is  a  new  pest  that  attacked  to- 
bacco for  the  first  time  in  1896,  being  noticed  in  three 
townships  in  one  county  in  North  Carolina.  The  cater- 
pillar is  about  half  an  inch  long,  and  greenish,  with 
a  dark  brown  head.  It  makes  an  irregular  or  blotch 
mine  by  eating  the  green  matter  between  the  two  sides 
of  the  leaf,  leaving  the  skins  intact  and  the  leaf  trans- 
parent. The  caterpillar  is  extremely  voracious  and  as 
several  usually  mine  one  leaf,  the  leaf  is  soon  rendered 
worthless,  and  it  is  feared  that  the  pest  may  be  widely 
prevalent.  It  has  been  carefully  studied  by  Gerald 
McCarthy,  botanist  North  Carolina  experiment  station, 
and  the  facts  and  illustrations  (Fig.  66)  are  from  its 
bulletin  133. 

The  insect  is  a  native  whose  common  food  plant  has 
been  the  perennial  weed,  Solatium  Carolinense,  com- 
monly called  horse  or  bull  nettle.  This  weed  is  rather 
common  on  dry,  sandy  soil  from  Connecticut  southward 
along  the  coast  to  Florida,  and  westward  to  the  Missis- 
sippi. The  range  of  the  insect  is  co-extensive  with  its 
host  plant,  and  includes  nearly  the  entire  tobacco-grow- 
ing area  of  the  United  States.  It  is  well  known  to 
economic  entomologists  that  the  natural  increase  of  any 
insect  is  chiefly  regulated  by  the  abundance  of  its  food 
plants.  Insects  which  subsist  upon  a  few  species  of 
weeds  of  waste  ground  must  necessarily  lead  a  very 
precarious  existence,  and  do  well  if  they  hold  their  num- 
ber from  year  to  year.  When  such  an  insect  changes 
its  wild  food  plant  for  a  cultivated  species,  the  rela- 
tively almost  infinite  abundance  of  the  latter  causes  a 
parallel  increase  o£  the  insect,  which,  soon  overflowing 
its  natural  boundaries,  or  the  range  it  occupied  before, 


250  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

spreads  into  all  regions  where  the  new  host  plant  is 
cultivated.  This  has  been  the  history  of  the  Colorado 
potato  beetle,  which  originally  subsisted  upon  another 
solanaceous  weed. 

Description  of  the  Tobacco  Miner. — Gelechia  pici- 
pellis,  Zett.  General  color,  yellowish  gray.  Head  and 
thorax  paler  than  wings,  inclining  to  cream  color. 
Palpi  simple,  not  exceeding  the  vertex.  Primaries 
variegated,  with  a  few  smoky  streaks  and  a  marginal 
row  of  minute  black  spots  at  base  of  cilia.  Wing 
expanse  0.45  to  0.50  inch.  Length  0.20  inch.  (After 
Miss  M.  Murtfeldt,  1881.)  The  insect  belongs  to  the 
natural  order  Lepidoptera,  sub-order  of  moths.  Family 


FIG.  70.     TOBACCO  WORM,  LIFE  SIZE. 

of  Teneids,  of  which  the  more  important  are  the  clothes 
and  fur  moths,  and  the  Angonmois  grain  moth  or  "Fly 
weevil"  (Gelechia — Sitotroga — cerealella),  so  destructive 
to  corn  and  grains  in  the  crib.  The  latter  species  is 
very  closely  related  to  and  greatly  resembles  our  tobacco 
miner. 

Remedies. — None  have  been  tried  as  yet.  From  the 
nature  of  the  case,  the  treatment  must  be  preventive. 
The  parent  moth  deposits  her  eggs  within  the  substance 
of  the  leaf  or  stem  of  the  plant.  The  resulting  cater- 
pillar eats  the  green  matter  of  the  leaf,  leaving  both 
epidermes  intact.  These  surfaces,  in  the  case  of  to- 
bacco, are  oily  and  will  readily  shed  any  liquid,  and 


PESTS  OF  TOBACCO.  251 

they  also  prevent  any  powder  from  penetrating  or  touch- 
ing the  insect  within.  It  is  within  these  mines  that  the 
caterpillar  appears  to  pass  its  whole  larval  and  pupal 
life,  issuing  as  a  winged  moth  to  lay  eggs  as  before. 
The  number  of  annual  generations  is  yet  unknown,  but 
is  probably  not  less  than  three.  The  insect  is  believed 
to  hibernate  in  the  imago  or  winged  state,  though  it 
may  also  lie  dormant,  either  as  caterpillar  or  pupa,  hid- 
den in  the  stumps  of  tobacco  or  the  roots  of  the  bull 
nettle.  The  most  promising  remedy  at  present  is  the 
extirpation  of  the  bull  nettle  in  all  tobacco-growing 
sections,  and  the  prompt  plowing  under  or  removal  of 
tobacco  stumps  as  soon  as  the  crop  has  been  gathered. 
Watch  for  leaves  showing  the  miner's  transparent 
blotches,  and  when  found,  remove  and  burn  them. 

The  Tobacco  Worm. — This  is  the  great  arch  enemy 
of  the  tobacco  plant  and  absolutely  sets  a  limit  to  the 
culture  of  tobacco.  It  reduces  the  acreage  fully  one- 
half.  But  for  its  destructive  power  six  acres  might 
easily  be  cared  for  by  one  man.  There  is  no  remedy  for 
them,  but  to  search  every  leaf  and  destroy  them.  The 
worming  of  the  crop,  when  they  are  numerous,  is  the 
most  disagreeable  and  tedious  work  attending  tobacco 
growing.  Some  seasons  there  are  comparatively  few, 
again,  they  seem  to  infest  every  leaf.  Worming  has  been 
done  so  persistently  in  many  places  in  the  Connecticut 
valley  that  this  pest  is  well-nigh  exterminated.  But  un- 
der more  careless  methods  at  the  South,  immense  injury 
is  done  by  the  tobacco  worm,  as  may  be  inferred  from 
the  photograph  in  Fig.  67,  of  an  entire  crop  utterly  de- 
stroyed by  this  pest.  Fields  of  tobacco  that  give  prom- 
ise of  making  the  finest  wrappers  may  be  totally  ruined 
for  that  purpose  through  a  week's  neglect  in  catching 
the  worms.  It  matters  but  little  how  rich  the  soil  may 
be,  or  how  well  cultivated,  the  crop  will  be  a  total 
failure  unless  these  worms  are  destroyed.  So  important 


252  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

is  this  work  regarded  by  the  successful  tobacco  planter, 
that  he  will  neglect  every  other  duty  on  the  farm  and 
pay  three  or  four  times  the  ordinary  prices  for  farm 
hands  in  order  to  fight  this  pest,  for  the  profits  of  to- 
bacco culture  will  be,  other  things  being  equal,  pro- 
portioned to  the  ability  to  destroy  this  inveterate  and 
insatiable  enemy. 

The  fruitful  mother  of  the  devouring  and  destruc- 
tive tobacco  worm  is  a  lepidopterous  insect  of  the  hawk 
moth  or  Sphingidce  family,  also  called  the  Sphinx  moth. 
It  derives  the  name  Sphinx  from  the  attitude  which  the 
caterpillar  assumes  in  raising  the  fore  part  of  the  body, 
and  remaining  in  this  state  of  immobility  for  hours 
together.  In  this  the  lively  imagination  of  Linnaeus 
perceived  a  resemblance  to  the  sphinx  of  the  Egyptians. 
There  are  two  species  of  these  moths — the  tobacco  worm 
of  the  North — Phlegethontius  celeus,  shown  in  Fig.  C8, 
and  the  tobacco  worm  of  the  South — Phlegethontius 
Carolina,  Fig.  69.  Both  species  may  occur  in  the  Mid- 
dle South,  and  for  the  purpose  of  the  practical  planter 
may  be  considered  as  one,  though  entomologists  have 
had  a  dispute  over  their  proper  names,  the  one  above 
adopted  having  by  far  the  weight  of  evidence  and 
authority  in  its  favor. 

The  worm  enters  immediately  upon  its  work  of 
destruction,  making  a  small  hole  in  the  leaf,  and  grad- 
ually enlarging  this,  confining  itself  to  the  under  sur- 
face of  the  leaf  if  the  weather  is  clear.  About  the 
seventh  day  it  passes  through  another  change,  doffing 
its  old  skin  and  putting  on  the  habiliments  of  maturity. 
While  this  change  is  going  on,  the  caterpillar  loses  its 
appetite,  but  in  a  day  or  two  it  recovers  and  becomes 
endowed  with  greater  vigor,  activity  and  voraciousness, 
passing  readily  from  leaf  to  leaf,  or  from  plant  to  plant, 
growing  in  size  and  its  capacity  for  eating,  until  it  will 
consume  half  a  large  leaf  within  twenty-four  hours.  As 


PESTS   OF   TOBACCO. 


253 


it  approaches  its  full  growth,  it  takes  refuge,  during  the 
beat  of  noontide,  among  the  ruffles  of  the  plants,  or 
screens  itself  from  the  ardent  rays  of  the  sun  by  pene- 


FIG.  71.     LEAF  ATTACKED  BY  TOBACCO  WORM. 

trating  the  soft  earth  under  the  plant.  At  this  stage  of 
its  growth  (Fig.  68,  better  shown  in  the  engraving  from 
a  photograph,  Fig.  70)  it  is  a  hideous  looking  creature, 
between  two  and  three  inches  long,  and  as  large  as  the 


254  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

little  finger.  It  has  a  dark,  green  color,  with  a  sharp, 
pointed  spikelet  upon  its  tail  resembling  the  sting  of  a 
bee.  This  is  often  called  a  "horn,"  hence  the  name 
horn  worm.  Oblique,  whitish,  dotted  stripes  point 
downward  and  backward,  and  ornament  its  sides.  It 
has  twelve  segments  or  rings ;  six  true  legs,  coming  out 
from  the  second,  third  and  fourth  rings,  and  four 
double,  fleshy  suction  protuberances  from  the  seventh, 
eighth,  ninth  and  tenth  segments,  with  a  prop  leg  on 
the  twelfth.  The  fifth,  sixth  and  eleventh  segments 
have  no  legs.  When  touched,  the  worm  manifests  its 
irritability  by  throwing  its  head  from  side  to  side,  eject- 
ing from  its  mouth  a  stream  of  masticated  tobacco,  and 
chafing  its  mandibles,  emitting  a  sound  like  the  chatter- 
ing of  teeth.  Though  threatening  in  appearance,  it  is 
perfectly  harmless,  and  can  be  handled  with  impunity. 

This  moth  rarely  makes  its  appearance  in  the  day 
until  about  sunset,  when  it  may  be  seen  with  its  long 
tongue  probing  the  deep  corollas  of  the  petunia,  evening 
primrose,  and  of  the  jimson  or  Jamestown,  weed,  at 
which  time  it  is  easily  caught.  This  moth  (Fig.  68) 
measures  across  the  wings  from  four  to  five  inches,  has 
a  gray  color,  variegated  with  wavy  black  lines  across  the 
wings,  and  fine  orange  colored  spots  on  each  side  of  the 
abdomen.  The  tongue  is  five  or  six  inches  long,  and 
when  not  in  use  is  coiled  up  spirally,  like  a  watch 
spring.  Its  first  appearance  is  about  the  middle  of  May. 
From  this  time,  the  number  increases  until  the  last  of 
August.  From  their  large  size,  the  manner  of  their 
flight  and  method  of  feeding,  they  are  often  mistaken 
for  humming  birds  and  are  called  "Humming  bird 
moths"  and  "Horn  flowers." 

The  eggs,  about  the  size  of  a  mustard  seed,  and  of  a 
pea-green  color,  are  deposited  both  upon  the  upper  and 
under  surface  of  the  tobacco  leaf,  being  kept  in  place  by 
a  viscid  fluid  resembling  glue.  The  moth,  in  depositing 


PESTS   OF   TOBACCO.  255 

the  eggs,  flies  rapidly  from  plant  to  plant,  giving  each 
leaf  upon  which  it  deposits  an  egg,  an  audible  tap. 
This  is  done  usually  at  twilight,  and  after,  in  clear 
weather.  The  eggs  gradually  change  their  color  to  a 
milky  white,  and  even  before  the  tiny  worm  breaks  from 
the  shell,  its  spiral  form  is  distinctly  visible  through 
the  transparent  encasement.  When  first  hatched,  it  is 
of  a  delicate  cream  color,  with  a  white,  thornlike  append- 
age. When  it  has  attained  its  full  growth,  which 
occupies  the  period  of  about  twenty  days,  it  descends 
into  the  ground,  when  its  body  contracts  and  shortens, 
the  skin  meanwhile  changing  from  a  dark  green  to  a 
brown  color  and  increasing  in  hardness;  within  a 
week  or  two  it  will  assume  the  chrysalis  state,  with 
a  long  tongue  case  bent  over  circularly  from  the 
head  and  touching  the  breast,  making  a  complete  loop 
(Fig.  68),  hence  they  are  sometimes  called  "Jug  handle 
grubs." 

Entomologists  usually  concur  in  the  belief  that  in 
this  condition  it  remains  in  the  ground,  below  the 
freezes,  through  the  winter.  Many  practical,  observant 
farmers,  however,  are  of  the  opinion  that  this  is  true 
only  as  applied  to  those  that  appear  later  in  the  season, 
just  before,  or  after,  the  appearance  of  frost.  It  is  be- 
lieved that  those  coming  to  maturity  in  June  and  July 
throw  off  the  chrysalis  state  in  August  and  September, 
and  appear  as  moths.  In  this  way  only  can  the  large 
number  of  worms  that  appear  in  these  months  be 
accounted  for. 

There  is  another  moth,  the  Sphinx  quinque-mac- 
ulata,  that  resembles  the  latter  so  much  that  an  ordi- 
nary observer  will  scarcely  distinguish  the  difference. 
This  is  another  species  of  the  same  family,  and  the 
larvae  of  the  moth  prefer  the  tomato  vine,  especially  in 
the  Southern  States,  but  they  are  very  destructive  to  the 
tobacco  plant  in  higher  latitudes. 


256 


TOBACCO    LEAF. 


FIG.  72.     DEVELOPMENT  OF  YOUNG  BROOM  RAPE.     Three-fourths 

natural  size. 

a,  A  plant  which  Is  just  beginning  to  put  out  the  stalk  bud  and  the  fibrous  roots; 
6,  a  later  stage  when  the  closely  placed  fibrous  roots  form  conspicuous  pronr 
inences  which  conceal  most  of  the  surface;  c,  two  parasites  at  a  still  later 
stage,  the  right  one  turned  so  as  to  show  the  bud,  now  of  considerable  size; 
d,  a  still  later  stage,  with  a  short  stem  and  bracts;  e,  a  well-grown  young  par- 
asite as  it  pushes  through  the  ground  at  the  surface,  its  long,  fibrous  roots  not 
yet  attached  to  those  of  the  host  plant;  /,  a  young  plant  which  was  grown  in 
packed  soil,  with  several  lateral  buds  which  would  have  produced  branches. 


PESTS   OF   TOBACCO.  257 

Worms  having  cocoons  attached  to  them,  resembling 
grains  of  rice,  should  not  be  killed,  as  these  cocoons  be- 
long to  a  family  of  parasites  called  Microgaster  congre- 
gata,  which  destroy  the  horn  worms  in  great  numbers. 

Catching  the  moths  in  traps,  or  poisoning  the  blos- 
soms of  petunia  and  Jamestown  weeds  with  a  sweetened 
solution  of  cobalt  (water  one  pint,  molasses  or  honey 
one-fourth  pint,  cobalt  one  ounce),  diminishes  the  num- 
ber of  worms,  but  there  will  always  be  left  enough  to  bo 
troublesome.  A  drove  of  turkeys  kept  in  the  tobacco 
field  will  destroy  a  great  number  of  the  worms,  but  the 
only  safety  is  in  going  over  the  field  at  least  once  a 
week,  or  oftener,  picking  off  the  worms  and  destroying 
them.  The  worms  usually  stay  on  the  underside  of  the 
leaf  ;  if  a  hole  is  seen  in  the  leaf,  no  matter  how  small,  a 
worm  will  usually  be  the  cause  of  it.  The  work  cannot 
be  done  too  carefully,  for  if  one  or  two  worms  remain 
on  a  plant,  they  will  completely  riddle  it  in  a  very  short 
time.  If  they  are  well  cleaned  out  when  they  first  ap- 
pear, much  time  and  labor  would  be  saved. 

Spraying  tobacco  with  Paris  green  to  destroy  the 
tobacco  horn  worm  has  engaged  the  special  attention  of 
the  Kentucky  experiment  station.  The  proportion  used 
was  one  pound  green  to  160  gallons  of  water.  Plants 
were  thoroughly  sprayed  July  27  and  August  3.  There 
were  fewer  worms  on  sprayed  than  on  unsp rayed  plants. 
As  to  the  amount  of  arsenic,  only  one-third  of  one  grain 
of  arsenious  oxide  per  pound  of  tobacco  was  the  largest 
quantity  recovered  by  careful  chemical  examination. 
Only  four  per  cent  of  the  arsenic  originally  applied  was 
recovered.  As  two  to  three  grains  of  arsenic  are  required 
for  a  fatal  dose  for  an  adult  man,  the  station  officials  see 
no  harm  in  making  these  sprayings  during  a  dry  season. 

There  are  usually  what  farmers  call  two  "showers" 
of  these  worms,  one  coming  about  the  last  of  June  and 
the  other  about  the  middle  of  August,  or,  rather,  dur- 
17 


258  TOBACCO    LEAF. 

ing  the  light  of  the  moon  in  August,  at  which  time  the 
moth  is  most  industrious  in  depositing  its  eggs  on  the 
plants.  The  first  influx  is  easily  destroyed,  for  the 
tobacco  is  then  small  and  there  are  but  few  hiding 
places  for  tbe  worms,  until  the  suckers  begin  to  put 
out.  It  is  the  second  influx  that  is  to  be  dreaded.  The 
large  size  of  the  tobacco  leaves  at  this  time,  the  presence 
of  the  suckers  and  the  disposition  of  the  worms,  as  they 
grow  older,  to  shift  their  places,  all  makes  it  very  diffi- 
cult to  rid  the  tobacco  of  this  devouring  and  destructive 
enemy  late  in  the  season. 

3.  OTHER  TROUBLES  WITH  THE  CROP. 

Broom  Rape. — In  central  Kentucky,  there  is  a 
parasitic  flowering  plant  called  broom  rape,  that  at- 
taches itself  to  the  roots  of  hemp  and  tobacco  and  de- 
rives its  nutriment  from  that  source.  It  is  known  to 
botanists  as  Phelipcea  ramosa,  and  grows  to  the  hight 
of  about  ten  inches.  As  described  by  the  botanist  of 
the  Kentucky  experiment  station,  "The  stems  are  thick, 
whitish,  fleshy,  pubescent,  generally  branched  and  bear 
small  scale  like  bracts,  in  place  of  leaves,  which,  when 
old,  turn  brown  at  the  tips.  The  flowers  are  white  with 
a  faint  purplish  tinge  ;  sometimes  of  a  decidedly  purple 
color.  They  are  borne  in  loose  spikes  in  the  axiles  of 
the  bracts.  The  flowers  are  all  perfect,  and  as  many  as 
forty  are  produced  on  a  single  branch."  A  section 
through  a  young  plant  and  the  root  to  which  it  is  at- 
tached, shows  that  they  are  very  closely  united.  The 
young  broom  rape  pushes  an  elongated  cell  into  the 
root  of  the  host  plant,  and  soon  spreads  out  into  a 
fibrous  bundle,  robbing  the  host  plant  of  the  nutritive 
elements  which  it  derives  from  the  soil  and  atmosphere. 
The  result  is  an  enfeeblement  of  the  infested  plants, 
shown  in  retarded  growth,  weakness  of  the  stems,  and 
reduced  yield  and  quality  of  leaf. 


PESTS   OF  TOBACCO.  259 

When  the  land  is  badly  infested  with  broom  rape, 
the  director  of  the  Kentucky  station  thinks  that  a  rota- 
tion with  crops  which  are  not  attacked  by  it  is  the  best 
means  of  avoiding  injury.  The  seeds  of  the  broom  rape 
are  very  small,  far  smaller,  indeed,  than  tobacco  seeds, 
and  they  seem  to  possess  great  vitality,  remaining  several 
years  in  the  ground  without  losing  their  power  of 
germination,  which  appears  only  to  take  place  when 
brought  near  the  host  plant.  This  parasite  cannot  be 
removed  by  hand,  for  its  roots  are  so  intimately  inter- 
twined with  the  roots  of  the  host  plant,  that  one  may 
not  be  pulled  up  without  pulling  up  the  other.  It  is 
said  that  an  application  of  gas  lime  to  the  soil  will  some- 
times prove  successful  in  destroying  the  seed  of  the 
noxious  plants.  The  lime  looses  this  property  after 
being  exposed  to  the  air  for  some  time.  The  application 
should  be  made  to  the  land  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  at  the 
rate  of  two  tons  per  acre,  and  plowed,  or  harrowed,  into 
the  ground.  A  stimulating  manure  applied  to  the  land 
will  aid  the  hemp  or  tobacco  plant  in  resisting  the 
onslaught  of  the  broom  rape.  The  station  does  not 
recommend  stable  manure,  however,  for  this  purpose. 
Whatever  renders  the  soil  friable,  stimulates  the  broom 
rape  to  greater  activity,  when  its  host  plant  is  present. 
It  does  not  push  its  way  readily  through  a  closely  com- 
pacted soil.  The  danger  to  tobacco  on  infested  land  is 
greatly  increased  when  the  soil  is  loose  and  porous. 
Rolling  the  land  with  a  heavy  roller  is  recommended 
when  the  land  is  infested  with  the  broom  rape.  This 
should  be  done  immediately  before  setting  out  the 
tobacco  plants. 

Hail  is  a  much  dreaded  enemy  from  which  there  is 
no  escape,  as  it  is  not  practicable  to  cover  a  field  so  that 
a  hail  storm  would  not  cut  the  leaves.  The  best  plan  is 
for  growers  to  mutually  insure  against  damage  by  hail 
or  wind,  through  a  cooperative  insurance  company 


TOBACCO    LEAF. 


PESTS   OF  TOBACCO.  261 

organized  for  this  special  purpose.  Such  insurance  is 
usually  cheap,  and  is  limited  to  the  actual  loss  incurred. 
After  a  hail  or  wind  storm,  it  is  well  to  go  through 
the  field  and  prop  up  all  plants  that  have  been  beaten 
down,  removing  the  leaves  that  are  most  badly  cut  and 
stained  with  earth.  Make  the  most  of  a  bad  situation 
and  save  all  that  can  be  saved. 

Wind  whipped  tobacco  is  much  injured.  It  can 
only  be  insured  against  as  just  stated.  But  where 
severe  wind  storms  are  common,  a  hedge,  or  some  tall 
and  close  crop,  to  break  the  wind's  force,  is  advisable 
next  to  the  tobacco  field. 

Early  Frost. — Since  the  perfect  quality  of  the  to- 
bacco depends  upon  curing  it  at  proper  maturity,  and 
since  such  maturity  may  not  be  reached  until  danger  of 
frost,  it  is  highly  important  to  guard  against  this  con- 
tingency. Even  the  slightest  frost  will  destroy  the 
intrinsic  quality  and  market  value  of  an  otherwise  per- 
fect crop.  The  more  valuable  the  crop  and  the  greater 
the  risk  of  frost,  the  more  effort  and  expense  may  be 
safely  put  into  means  of  protecting  against  frosts.  A 
famous  California  orange  grove  is  equipped  with  a  sys- 
tem of  iron  pipes,  through  which  water  is  conducted  to 
nozzles  at  frequent  intervals,  the  idea  being  that  the 
spray  will  ward  off  light  frosts.  Barrels  of  tar  and  rub- 
bish, in  different  parts  of  the  orchard,  are  available  for 
making  a  smudge  of  smoke,  which  is  the  most  practica- 
ble means  yet  devised.  In  the  case  of  a  freeze,  neither 
of  these  methods  is  of  much  avail.  Smoke  is  good 
against  all  light  frosts,  and  is  easily  obtained.  Strawy 
manure,  leaves,  rubbish,  etc.,  should  be  piled  in  the 
lowest  places  and  about  the  sides,  and  covered  with  hay 
caps,  or  ducking  (previously  painted  with  two  coats  of 
linseed  oil,  and  dried),  so  as  to  be  always  dry.  Have  a 
barrel  of  kerosene  oil  handy,  some  cans,  and  torches. 
When  frost  threatens,  set  a  night  watch  to  inspect 


262  TOBA.CCO   LEAF. 

thermometers  placed  on  stakes  in  various  parts  of  the 
field,  especially  in  the  most  exposed  places.  If  the  mer- 
cury drops  to  35°  by  one  or  two  in  the  morning,  it  is 
likely  to  mean  a  frost  of  more  or  less  severity  before  sun- 
rise. Then  call  up  the  folks,  light  the  torches,  and  let 
each  person  take  torch  and  oil  can  (previously  filled) 
and  set  fire  to  the  row  of  rubbish  heaps  previously 
assigned  him.  If  the  wind  blows  the  smoke  away  from 
the  field,  carry  some  rubbish  over  to  that  side,  so  the 
smoke  will  be  blown  on  to  instead  of  off  from  the  field. 
If  the  danger  never  comes,  no  expense  worth  mention- 
ing has  been  incurred,  as  the  piles  can  be  scattered  and 
plowed  under  for  manure,  or  burned,  the  ashes  making 
excellent  fertilizer.  No  prudent  person  thinks  of  leav- 
ing his  buildings  uninsured  against  fire.  Certainly  it  is 
just  as  important  to  insure  against  frosts,  so  far  as  it 
can  be  done,  by  such  simple  means  as  smoke  coverings, 
or  water.  Mr.  E.  P.  Powell,  a  successful  and  brainy 
horticulturist  in  western  New  York  writes  :  "The  very 
best  preventive  against  frost  is  not  fires,  but  thorough 
spraying  with  water  during  the  evening  and  night. 
When  this  can  be  done,  we  can  overcome  the  danger 
from  a  fall  of  two  or  three  degrees.  This  will  often 
save  our  whole  crop.  This  last  spring  I  lost  my  grapes 
by  a  margin  of  not  more  than  two  degrees,  but  on  a  pre- 
ceding night  anticipated  the  frost  by  deluging  the 
trellises  with  water."  The  same  plan  will  work  equally 
well  on  tobacco. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

OK   THE   MARKETING    OF   TOBACCO. 

In  the  cigar-leaf  growing  States  there  is  not,  as  yet, 
any  organized  system  of  marketing  tobacco,  such  as  has 
been  developed  so  admirably  in  the  heavy  leaf,  Burley 
and  yellow  districts  of  the  South.  Numerous  attempts 
have  been  made  by  cigar-leaf  growers  in  the  New  Eng- 
land and  Middle  States  to  organize  cooperative  exchanges 
for  the  sale  of  their  crops,  but  so  far  without  success. 
The  method  followed  at  present,  and  for  years,  is  for  the 
planter  to  wait  for  the  buyer  to  come  to  his  farm. 

Buyers  usually  inspect  the  crop  very  carefully  while 
it  is  growing,  and  under  unusual  conditions  may  even 
contract  for  the  growing  crop.  Such  contracts  are  usu- 
ally verbal,  and  are  a  frequent  cause  of  dissatisfaction 
and  complaint.  The  buyer  agrees  to  pay  a  certain  price 
for  the  crop  delivered  to  him  in  good  condition,  but  if 
the  market  goes  down  before  the  leaf  is  delivered,  he 
will  claim  that  it  is  not  of  the  quality  represented,  and 
he  will  not  pay  the  stated  price  for  it.  On  the  other 
hand,  should  the  market  advance,  the  buyer  of  a  crop 
contracted  for  in  the  fields  will  insist  upon  having  the 
leaf  delivered.  If  such  contracts  are  made  at  all,  they 
should  be  in  writing,  with  all  the  conditions  plainly  set 
forth,  so  that  there  can  be  no  mistake,  and  10  per  cent 
of  the  amount  should  be  paid  to  bind  the  bargain.  This 
caution  also  applies  to  tobacco  sold  on  the  poles  before 
stripping. 

The  great  bulk  of  the  cigar  leaf,  however,  is  sold 
after  being  stripped  and  put  in  the  bundle.     The  buyer 
263 


264 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


comes  to  the  farmer's  barns,  inspects  the  crop,  and  a 
price  is  agreed  upon  for  the  crop  delivered  at  the  buyer's 
local  warehouse,  or  shipped  to  his  headquarters.  Some 
farmers,  however,  when  dissatisfied  with  offers  made  by 
traveling  or  local  buyers,  case  the  crop  themselves  and 
hold  it  for  higher  prices. 

These  buyers  of  the  cigar-leaf  crop  may  be  traveling 
agents  sent  out  by  dealers  in  New  York,  Chicago,  or 
other  cities,  or  they  may  be  the  representatives  of  cigar 
manufacturers.  Very  often,  too,  some  enterprising 
planter  and  business  man  combines  the  assorting  and 
sale  of  his  own  crop  with  purchases  of  his  neighbors' 
crops.  Buyers  usually  prefer  to  take  the  crop  in  the 


PIG.  74.     NORTH  CAROLINA  TOBACCO  WAREHOUSE. 

bundle  and  assort  it  themselves,  to  suit  their  special 
trade. 

It  will  be  seen  that,  by  this  system,  there  is  very 
little  competition  for  the  crop  on  the  part  of  buyers, 
except  in  seasons  of  scarcity  or  excitement.  The  tobacco 
grower  is  largely  at  the  mercy  of  the  buyer,  especially  as 
many  sales  are  kept  secret  because  made  on  so-called 
"private  terms."  Indeed,  it  is  quite  difficult  to  accu- 
rately report  the  price  at  which  cigar-leaf  growers  sell 
their  crops,  as  buyers  make  every  effort  to  keep  the  high 
prices  secret,  while  the  grower  is  equally  anxious  not  to 
have  it  known  if  he  has  accepted  a  low  price.  The 
whole  system  is  mischievous,  illogical,  unjust,  unbusi- 
nesslike, expensive.  It  is  apt  to  rob  the  farmer,  it 


MARKETING   TOBACCO.  265 

sometimes  operates  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  buyer, 
and  at  best,  it  maintains  an  unnecessary  number  of 
middlemen. 

If  public  warehouses  for  the  sale  of  the  crop,  accord- 
ing to  the  system  so  successful  in  the  South,  could  be 
provided  at  central  points  in  the  cigar-leaf  sections,  and 
carefully  regulated  by  law,  that  system  could  not  fail  to 
revolutionize  the  old  method,  and  greatly  to  the  satis- 
faction of  all  concerned.  A  large  quantity  of  tobacco, 
divided  into  established  grades  or  descriptions,  offered 
at  certain  established  dates,  could  not  tail  to  attract 
large  numbers  of  buyers.  Each  crop  would  thus  have 
the  benefit  of  competitive  sales  at  auction,  and  would 
thus  get  the  best  price  the  market  affords.  Such  ware- 
houses would  also  provide  for  sales  other  than  by  auc- 
tion. It  is  singular  that  the  North,  usually  so  enter- 
prising, should  be  so  lacking  in  a  businesslike  method 
for  selling  its  tobacco  crop,  since  the  South  has  brought 
the  method  to  such  a  high  state  of  perfection. 

The  Warehouse  System. — By  this  system  in  the 
South,  warehouses  are  erected  at  a  point  that  is  the  cen- 
ter of  a  large  tobacco-growing  district.  There  is  much 
strife  among  towns  to  secure  the  location  of  tobacco 
warehouses,  because  the  large  daily  sales  of  leaf  during 
the  season  distribute  immense  sums  of  money  to  the 
planters  in  the  vicinity,  and  the  town's  general  business 
is  greatly  benefited  thereby.  This  warehouse  system  is 
building  up  many  towns  in  the  South.  Within  the  past 
ten  years,  eight  markets  for  the  sale  of  tobacco  have 
been  established  in  as  many  different  towns  in  the  ten 
counties  constituting  the  "new  golden  belt"  of  North 
Carolina.  These  towns  contain  20  warehouses  of  spa- 
cious size.  They  engage  from  60  to  80  large  prize 
houses,  ranging  from  80  to  120  feet  in  length  and  30  to 
50  feet  in  width,  three  to  four  stories  in  hight,  each 
equipped  with  all  the  best  methods  of  keeping  and  re- 


266 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


MARKETING  TOBACCO.  267 

prizing  tobacco.  Upon  the  floor  of  each  of  these  ware- 
houses may  be  seen  daily  from  15,000  to  50,000  pounds 
of  bright  tobacco.  Fig.  73  is  from  a  photograph  of  the 
warehouses  in  the  section  referred  to,  that  are  building 
up  the  prosperous  town  of  Greenville.  In  the  older  and 
heavy  shipping  districts,  the  warehouse  system  has  at- 
tained still  larger  dimensions,  involving  great  ware- 
houses, tobacco  boards  of  trade,  banking  facilities,  and 
all  the  appurtenances  to  a  large  commerce.  Clarksville, 
Tenn.,  is  an  example  of  a  town  being  rapidly  developed, 
because  it  is  a  center  for  tobacco  sales  by  the  warehouse 
method,  while  Danville,  Va.,  has  long  had  a  national 
reputation  in  this  respect.  Much  of  the  vast  commerce 
of  Cincinnati  and  Louisville  is  due  to  these  cities  being 
great  tobacco  markets. 

Selling  "Loose"  Tobacco. — In  the  heavy  leaf  dis- 
tricts, large  quantities  of  tobacco  are  sold  loose,  the  other 
method  very  generally  employed  being  that  of  selling 
the  leaf  in  hogsheads  under  inspection  regulated  by  law. 
Heavy  shipping  and  manufacturing  tobacco,  when  sold 
loose,  usually  changes  ownership  after  it  has  been  exam- 
ined by  purchaser  in  growers'  barns,  and  price  is  usually 
fixed  according  to  weight,  with  the  condition  that  the 
amount  of  lugs  must  not  exceed  a  certain  agreed  per- 
centage. In  other  words,  a  fixed  price  is  paid  for  the 
good  grades,  and  another  set  figure  for  the  lugs.  Ware- 
houses for  the  sale  of  loose  tobacco  are  now  established 
in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  but  no  such  provision 
for  sales  is  made  in  the  Mississippi  valley.  The  ware- 
houses for  the  transfer  of  loose  tobacco  are  quite  differ- 
ent in  construction  and  arrangement  from  those  where 
prized  tobacco  is  sold. 

An  important  requisite,  in  the  construction  of  a 
warehouse  for  the  sale  of  loose  tobacco,  is  plenty  of  floor 
space,  and  plenty  of  light  from  above  and  also  from  all 
sides.  Attached  to  one  side  of  the  warehouse  is  a  cheaply 


268 


TOBACCO   LEAP. 


MARKETING   TOBACCO.  269 

constructed  shed,  into  which  wagons  with  the  loose  to- 
bacco are  first  driven.  The  floor  of  this  shed  is  about  three 
feet  lower  than  the  floor  of  the  warehouse.  The  tobacco 
is  taken  from  the  wagon  and  placed  in  long  piles  on 
trucks,  with  the  heads  outward  and  the  tails  in  the  cen- 
ter. This  loaded  truck  is  then  wheeled  upon  the  plat- 
form scales  and  weighed,  after  which  it  is  taken  to  an 
open  floor  space  to  which  it  is  assigned,  and  the  tobacco 
skilfully  dumped.  A  card  bearing  the  warehouse  num- 
ber, weight  of  the  pile  and  name  of  owner  is  fastened  in 
the  cleft  of  a  stick,  which,  in  turn,  is  fixed  in  the  top  of 
the  pile  of  tobacco.  As  far  as  possible,  the  various 
grades  are  kept  separate.  The  tobacco  is  then  ready 
for  the  auction,  and  the  owner,  if  bid  prices  are  not  sat- 
isfactory, reserves  the  option  of  rejecting  these,  and  may 
subsequently  sell  privately  or  offer  his  tobacco  at  another 
time  at  the  same  place  publicly. 

The  charges  for  handling  loose  tcbacco  in  this  char- 
acter are  not  burdensome.  That  for  weighing  each  pile 
is  10  to  15  cents  ;  the  auction  fee  is  at  the  rate  of  10  to 
15  cents  per  100  pounds,  and  if  the  pile  weighs  more 
than  100  pounds,  a  set  figure  of  25  cents.  Finally,  there 
is  a  commission  of  two  and  one-half  per  cent  on  the 
amount  of  sale,  which  goes  to  the  warehouse.  Immedi- 
ately following  the  sale  the  tobacco  is  removed  in  large, 
flat-bottom  baskets,  each  holding  200  to  300  pounds. 

Sales  of  Prized  or  Inspected  Leaf. — Licensed  ware- 
houses for  the  sale  of  tobacco  prized  in  hogsheads  are 
numerous  throughout  the  heavy  shipping  and  manufac- 
turing districts,  and  are  governed  by  certain  wise  restric- 
tions under  State  laws.  These  are  generally  very  rigid, 
and  properly  require  that  everything  shall  be  done  by 
the  warehouseman  to  insure  fair  dealing  between  buyers 
and  sellers.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  law  that  these  reg- 
ulations will  so  cover  every  case  as  to  make  it  unneces- 
sary t<*  carry  disagreements  to  the  courts.  Provision  is 


270 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


MARKETING   TOBACCO.  271 

made  that  no  warehouseman,  or  any  one  of  his  employees, 
is  allowed  to  participate  in  the  profits  or  losses  from  the 
purchase  or  sale  of  any  tobacco  in  the  warehouse  with 
which  he  may  be  connected. 

The  inspectors  of  tobacco  are  either  appointed  by 
some  State  authority,  or  elected  by  a  tobacco  board  of 
trade.  In  Tennessee,  the  warehousemen  are  created 
inspectors  by  law,  but  they  may  appoint  inspectors,  or 
samplers,  for  whose  acts  the  warehousemen  are  hold 
responsible,  by  the  regulations  of  the  tobacco  board  of 
trade.  These  deputy  inspectors  are  elected  by  the  vote 
of  the  warehousemen  and  buyers,  who  have  an  equal 
voice  in  their  selection.  In  cases  where  differences  and 
jlaims  arise,  these  are  settled  by  an  arbitration  commit- 
tee. The  latter  consists  usually  of  three  persons,  who 
are  appointed  by  a  committee  of  the  board  of  trade,  one 
member  of  which  is  a  warehouseman  and  another  a 
buyer,  these  two  selecting  a  third  to  complete  this  com- 
mittee. Provision  is  also  made  for  a  committee  of  ap- 
peal, which  has  the  power  to  confirm  or  reject  the  decis- 
ion of  the  committee  of  arbitration.  The  warehouseman 
is  obliged  to  keep  his  house  in  good  condition  and  re- 
pair, the  floors  fitted  with  platforms,  or  skids,  which 
will  elevate  the  hogsheads  at  least  four  inches. 

.  Drawing  Samples. — In  order  to  secure  fail1  average 
samples  from  a  cask  of  tobacco,  the  top  head  is  first 
taken  out,  the  cask  then  turned  bottom  upward  and 
lifted  from  the  closely  packed  tobacco,  as  illustrated  in 
Fig.  76,  this  leaving  the  entire  contents  of  the  cask  in  a 
solid  column  exposed  to  view  on  all  sides.  The  tobacco, 
by  means  of  an  iron  lever  supported  by  an  adjustable 
fulcrum,  is  divided  in  at  least  four  places.  At  each 
"break"  four  or  more  bundles  from  different  courses 
are  drawn  by  the  inspector  (Fig.  77),  so  as  to  get  a  fair 
idea  of  the  quality  and  condition  of  the  leaf.  These 
bundles  are  tied  in  one  sample,  to  which  is  affixed  a  tag, 


272 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


MARKETING   TOBACCO.  273 

or  label,  bearing  the  name  of  the  warehouse,  the  seller, 
the  warehouse  number,  the  gross  weight,  date  of  inspec- 
tion and  the  name  of  the  inspector.  This  tag  is  affixed 
by  tape  and  sealing  wax,  to  prevent  tampering.  If  a 
hogshead  is  resampled,  it  must  also  be  reweighed.  The 
tag  bears  the  date  of  original  inspection,  and  later  and 
last  date  of  reinspection,  with  the  new  gross  weight. 
The  tobacco  "note,"  or  manifest,  as  it  is  called,  also 
shows  the  date  of  inspection  or  reinspection,  of  old  and 
new  weights,  and  passes  from  buyer  to  seller  without 
endorsement  or  further  marks  of  identity. 

This  note  bears  also  the  name  of  warehouse,  plan- 
ter's private  marks  and  numbers,  and  is  signed  by  the 
proprietor.  When  required  by  the  buyer,  the  private 
initial  or  brand  must  be  interpreted,  revealing  the 
packer  if  not  the  owner.  This  tobacco  manifest,  or 
receipt,  is  negotiable,  representing,  as  it  does,  an  indi- 
vidual and  identified  package  of  tobacco.  When  the 
tobacco  "note"  is  taken  by  the  warehouse  as  a  receipt 
for  the  delivery  of  the  tobacco,  the  receiver  or  owner  is 
required  to  properly  endorse  same.  Sometimes  tobacco 
is  placed  in  storage,  the  owner  not  wishing,  for  the  time 
being,  any  inspection.  The  warehouse  issues  a  special 
receipt  for  this,  inserting  in  it  the  description  of  each 
package  in  the  way  of  private  marks  and  weight,  and 
also  the  name  of  the  owner,  the  paper  bearing  the  state- 
ment that  the  tobacco  is  delivered  to  the  holder  of  the 
note  or  his  order  through  proper  endorsement.  The  ware- 
house charges  are  $1.50  per  hogshead  from  the  date  of 
inspection  to  the  end  of  the  first  four  months.  Subse- 
quent to  this,  storage  is  charged  at  the  rate  of  ten  cents 
per  month.  After  two  years'  storage  has  accumulated, 
the  tobacco  is  liable  to  be  sold  for  storage  charges,  but  is 
rarely  ever  thus  disposed  of  under  three  or  four  years. 

Storage  and  Auction  Fees. — In  addition  to  the  in- 
spection fee  of  25  cents  for  each  package,  the  owner  of 
18 


274 


TOBACCO    LEAF. 


MARKETING  TOBACCO.  275 

the  tobacco  pays  through  his  commission  merchant,  or 
directly,  a  sampling  fee  of  75  cents,  which  includes 
cooperage  and  nails,  making  an  expense  of  $1  on  each 
hogshead  of  500  pounds  net,  to  any  weight  merchant- 
able up  to  2200  pounds,  and  over.  Insurance  is  at  the 
risk  of  owner,  unless  otherwise  stipulated.  The  fee  of  the 
tobacco  auctioneer  ranges  from  12£  to  25  cents  per  sample 
sold,  and  is  paid  by  the  seller.  Auctioneers  of  loose  to- 
bacco are  paid  arbitrary  fees  and  salary  by  warehouse- 
men, while  the  warehouses  themselves  charge  graded 
prices  to  the  planter  by  the  pile.  Commission  mer- 
chants' fees  for  selling  tobacco  loose,  or  in  hogsheads,  are 
two  and  one-half  per  cent  on  gross  sales,  one-half  per 
cent  tax,  one-half  per  cent  insurance,  beside  freight, 
grading  and  inspection,  if  same  has  been  previously  paid 
out ;  also  auction  fees  if  the  sample  is  put  up  at  auction. 
Marketing  and  Selling. — If  sound  leaf  tobacco, 
well  assorted  and  in  good  keeping  order,  the  sample  is 
marked  A,  for  Admitted.  All  lugs,  trash  and  tobacco 
in  bad  keeping  condition  is  marked  E,  for  Eefused. 
Damaged  tobacco  is  Insecure.  Casks  in  poor  condition 
are  replaced  at  the  cost  of  the  owner.  If  hogsheads  are 
fraudulently  packed,  with  intention  to  deceive,  the  in- 
spectors are  required  to  give  information  to  the  grand 
jury  when  called  upon.  False  packing  is  an  indictable 
offense  in  most  of  the  heavy-tobacco-growing  states.  The 
samples  are  placed  on  top  of  the  hogshead  from  which 
they  are  drawn.  During  the  sale  (Fig.  78),  the  auctioneer 
stands  near  the  hogshead  which  he  is  selling,  and  every 
buyer  may  see  the  condition  of  the  tobacco.  Bids  are 
taken  at  auctions  at  an  advance  of  10  cents  per  100 
pounds  up  to  $6 ;  after  this  price  is  reached,  25  cents 
is  the  minimum  bid  recognized  up  to  $25,  when  50 
cents  increase  per  100  pounds  is  the  lowest  bid  taken. 
After  being  sold,  the  cask  is  replaced  over  the  uncovered 
tobacco,  coopered  and  weighed.  Planters  have  the  au- 


276 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


MARKETING  TOBACCO.  277 

thority  by  law  to  reject  any  bid  offered,  but  in  such 
cases  they  are  charged  with  the  fees.  A  lien  is  usually 
given  on  the  tobacco  for  warehouse  charges  and  fees. 

Buyers  may  make  reclamations  on  the  inspectors, 
when  the  tobacco  in  the  hogshead  is  inferior  to  the  sam- 
ples by  which  it  is  sold.  Each  inspector,  before  enter- 
ing upon  his  duties,  is  required  to  give  bonds  for  the 
faithful  performance  of  his  duties,  and  for  prompt  pay- 
ment of  all  reclamations  granted.  Inspection  fees  range 
at  40  cents  to  $1  per  hogshead.  At  the  larger  centers 
of  the  warehouse  system  the  "  breaks,"  or  sales,  are  at- 
tended by  buyers  from  all  parts  of  Europe,  and  the 
principal  cities  of  America,  interested  in  the  export 
trade,  as  shown  in  the  illustration,  Fig.  79.  The 
methods  of  conducting  these  sales  are  practically  the 
same  at  other  markets,  at  Cincinnati  and  Louisville,  as 
may  be  seen  from  Figs.  80  and  81. 

Ordinarily,  there  is  keen  competition  for  the  better 
grades  of  leaf.  Sometimes  there  is  a  fancy  demand  for 
the  first  of  the  new  crop,  or  for  some  special  mark,  or 
for  some  special  purpose.  An  instance  in  point  was  the 
public  sale  by  Mr.  S.  P.  Carr,  at  the  Richmond  tobacco 
exposition  of  1888,  of  a  fine  hogshead  of  Kentucky 
White  Burley  for  the  remarkable  price  of  $4,555.90,  or 
at  the  rate  of  $3.10  per  pound. 

In  the  Yellow  Tobacco  Districts  of  North  Carolina 
and  Virginia,  the  bundles  of  leaf  after  stripping  are  put 
on  sticks  and  hung  in  the  barn  until  taken  to  market, 
but  much  leaf  goes  to  market  directly  from  the  strip- 
ping room.  Most  growers,  however,  prefer  to  wait  until 
spring,  when  the  tobacco  is  ordered  and  either  packed  in 
wagon  beds,  and  thus  taken  to  market,  or,  what  is  re- 
garded as  much  better,  is  packed  in  tierces  (as  in  east 
Tennessee)  about  four  feet  high,  three  feet  in  diameter 
at  the  smaller  head,  and  three  feet  two  inches  at  the 
larger.  In  such  tierces  the  tobacco  is  packed  loosely, 


278 


TOBACCO    LEAF. 


MABKETING    TOBACCO.  279 

and  carried  to  market.  The  weight  of  such  a  tierce, 
packed,  is  about  250  pounds.  Larger  tierces  are  used  in 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  which  hold  from  400  to 
600  pounds  of  loosely  packed  tobacco. 

The  day  it  is  offered  for  sale,  the  larger  head  is 
taken  out  and  the  tierce  inverted.  The  tobacco  slips 
out  and  stands  without  support  on  the  floor  of  the  ware- 
house. If  two  different  grades  are  put  in  the  same 
tierce,  some  strips  of  paper  are  laid  between  them. 
Each  grade  is  placed  in  a  separate  pile  on  the  floor  of 
the  warehouse,  with  a  card  showing  the  owner,  weight, 
warehouse,  number,  etc.  The  leaf  is  sold  according  to 
the  farmer's  grades,  and  just  as  he  directs.  The  prin- 
cipal markets,  however,  prefer  to  have  the  leaf  carefully 
assorted  in  grades  of  a  specified  character,  established 
by  the  rules  of  the  board  of  trade.  No  receipt  is  given 
a  farmer  if  he  comes  in  a  wagon  and  delivers  his  to- 
bacco, attending  to  the  sale  himself.  But  if  shipped  in 
hogsheads,  tierces,  or  open  crates,  by  freight,  the  farmer 
sends  to  the  warehouse  his  bill  of  lading.  The  ware- 
house then  pays  the  freight,  deducting  it  from  his 
sales  account. 

On  auction  days,  these  warehouses  are  filled  with  a 
crowd  of  buyers  and  curiosity  seekers.  The  auctioneer 
stands  on  a  box  set  on  wheels,  which  admits  of  its  being 
easily  moved  from  pile  to  pile.  At  each  one  he  solicits 
bids ;  that  is,  you  are  told,  if  you  are  a  stranger,  that  he 
is  doing  so.  At  all  events,  he  is  using  his  tongue,  his 
hands,  and  his  body  to  the  best  advantage.  His  jargon 
is  unintelligible  to  all  but  the  initiated.  Meanwhile, 
the  buyers  are  pulling  the  piles  apart,  and  examining 
the  character  of  the  tobacco,  as  the  bids  are  made  and 
cried  by  the  auctioneer.  As  fast  as  a  pile  is  sold,  a 
clerk  takes  down  the  price  and  puts  upon  the  card  the 
name  of  the  buyer.  The  hired  employees  of  each  buyer 
take  up  the  piles  as  they  are  sold,  in  large,  square  bas- 


280 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


kets,  four  feet  long  and  wide  and  six  inches  deep,  and 
carry  them  away.  Everything  is  cleaned  up  at  once,  so 
as  to  leave  the  floor  space  empty  for  the  next  sale.  All 
is  a'ctivity  and  motion,  some  150  piles  being  sold  in  an 
hour.  The  same  thing  is  repeated,  until  the  contents 
of  the  warehouse  have  all  been  disposed  of  at  auction,  to 


FIG.  82.     WEIGHING  TOBACCO  HOGSHEADS  PREVIOUS  TO  SAMPLING. 

the  highest  bidder.  The  engraving  in  Fig.  82  is  from  a 
photograph  of  a  typical  scene  at  a  sale  of  yellow  tobacco. 
Five  hundred  sales  in  a  warehouse  in  a  morning  is 
not  an  uncommon  occurrence.  Generally,  the  first  sale 
is  followed  by  other  sales  at  other  warehouses,  the  crowd 
going  from  one  to  the  other.  Latterly,  the  system  has 
been  adopted  of  letting  the  owner  withdraw  his  tobacco 
after  the  sale,  if  the  price  does  not  suit  him.  This  is 
done  to  prevent  effective  combines  between  the  buyers, 
or  to  beat  the  trusts.  A  certain  hour  is  fixed  at  which 


MARKETING  TOBACCO.  281 

the  bids  must  be  cashed.  Failure  to  comply  with  this 
rule  puts  the  buyer  on  the  black  list,  and  his  purchas- 
ing ability  is  at  an  end.  The  farmer  goes  to  the  office 
in  the  building,  gets  his  money,  less  the  handling  and 
selling  commission,  and  goes  where  he  pleases. 

The  piles  rest  on  warehouse  baskets  made  for  the 
purpose,  and  are  circular  in  shape  and  pyramidal  in 
form,  the  hands  being  laid  in  a  circle  and  in  layers,  the 
butts  out.  These  piles  vary  in  size  from  a  few  pounds 
to  hundreds.  After  the  sale  is  over,  the  floor  is  cleaned, 
and  the  work  of  filling  it  for  the  next  sale  begins.  Im- 
mediately after  the  sale,  bills  are  made  out  by  clerks  and 
an  account  of  the  sale  given,  or  sent,  to  the  owner,  gen- 
erally the  same  day.  The  buyers  at  these  sales  are  both 
manufacturers  and  speculators.  The  manufacturers 
prefer  to  get  their  stock  direct  from  planters'  hands. 
It  is  then  not  bruised  or  broken  by  handling,  and  is  not 
stuck  together  when  prizing  in  tbe  hogsheads.  The 
warehouse  sales  are  fair  and  open,  where  the  farmer  gets 
cash  and  where  the  article  is  always  sold  to  the  highest 
bidder.  The  warehouse  charges  are  as  follows,  with  two 
per  cent  commission  additional :  One  to  50  pounds,  20 
cents ;  50  to  100  pounds,  25  cents ;  100  to  200  pounds, 
50  cents;  200  to  300  pounds,  75  cents;  300  to  GOO 
pounds,  $1;  600  to  1000  pounds,  $1.50,  and  1000 
pounds  and  upward,  $2.  These  sale  warehouses  are 
well  lighted  from  the  roof,  so  that  the  colors  of  the  to- 
bacco may  be  easily  seen.  The  proprietor  of  the  ware- 
house receives  a  commission  on  each  sale  for  the  use  of 
his  warehouse,  and  cooperative  warehouses  are  also 
feasible. 

The  Export  Trade. — Numerous  concerns,  individ- 
ual or  corporate,  are  engaged  in  buying  and  shipping 
yellow  tobacco,  for  both  the  home  and  foreign  trade. 
After  buying  it,  the  hogsheads  are  replaced  on  the 
tobacco  and  it  is  conveyed  to  the  dealers'  warehouse, 


282 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


from  which  it  is  shipped  to  domestic  manufacturers  as 
ordered,  or  exported  to  tobacco  factors  in  foreign  coun- 
tries. When  resold  in  the  dealers'  warehouse,  it  may  be 
again  inspected  and  is  always  reweighed,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  82.  Some  dealers  take  pride  in  carrying  a  large 
and  varied  stock,  so  as  to  be  able  to  supply  an  order  for 


FIG.  83. 

VIEW  OF  TOBACCO  IN  STORAGE  READY   FOR    SHIPMENT  TO  ANY 
PART  OF   THE  WORLD. 

This  engraving,  and  Fig.  82,  from  photographs  of  the  extensive  establishment  of 
S.  P.  Carr  &  Co  at  Richmond. 


any  quality  or  quantity  of  leaf.  Fig.  81  affords  a  glimpse 
at  the  interior  of  such  a  dealer's  storage  house  for 
tobacco. 

Stemmeries  and  Strips. — Strips  are  made  by  remov- 
ing the  midrib  from  the  leaf.  They  are  then  tied  up  in 
large  bundles  and  hung  in  the  drying  room,  completely 


MABKETING   TOBACCO.  283 

dried  out,  and  then  re-ordered.  They  are  rarely  taken 
down  from  the  racks  before  the  last  of  May  or  the  first 
of  June,  when  no  mistake  can  be  made  as  to  the  amount 
of  moisture  they  contain.  They  should  be  in  a  dry  con- 
dition, barely  pliable  enough  to  prevent  injury  in 
handling  and  prizing.  When  in  this  condition,  they 
are  put  in  bulks  and  afterwards  packed  and  prized  in 
casks,  1200  to  1300  pounds  in  each.  Before  packing, 
the  bundles  are  untied  and  the  strips  laid  in  regular 
layers  in  the  hogshead  and  pressure  from  screws  brought 
to  bear  upon  them. 

The  work  in  stemmeries  goes  on  from  November, 
when  the  new  tobacco  begins  to  come  into  market,  until 
June,  and  consists  of  stemming  and  ordering  the  stock. 
For  the  remainder  of  the  season,  the  employees  are  kept 
busy  in  putting  the  tobacco  in  bulk  and  prizing  in  casks 
for  the  English  market. 

The  method  pursued  in  recent  years  in  ordering 
strips  is  much  more  effectual  and  safe.  The  strips  are 
either  hung  up  in  a  drying  house  or  put  in  broad,  flat 
trays  made  of  laths,  and  exposed  to  a  drying  heat  of 
1 60°  for  eight  to  ten  hours.  When  the  tobacco  is  thor- 
oughly dry,  the  windows  of  the  drying  room  are  opened 
and  the  tobacco  cools  off.  The  windows  are  then  closed 
and  steam  is  turned  into  the  room  through  pipes  that 
are  perforated,  which  soon  puts  the  tobacco  into  a  con- 
dition to  be  handled  without  breaking.  It  is  then 
taken  down  and  "  cooped,"  or  shingled,  on  the  floor, 
but  the  sticks  are  not  withdrawn.  Enough  of  one  grade 
is  put  in  a  coop  to  fill  a  tierce,  or  hogshead.  After 
remaining  in  the  coops  a  day  or  two,  it  is  made  ready 
for  packing  in  the  cask  by  putting  a  few  sticks  at  a 
time  filled  with  tobacco  in  a  steam  box,  where  it 
remains  for  a  minute  or  two,  and  is  then  packed 
without  delay,  after  untying  the  bundles  and  straighten- 
ing the  tobacco. 


284 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


In  making  strips,  the  loss  of  weight  by  drying  is 
from  eight  to  12  per  cent ;   by  removal  of  midrib,  or 


FIG.  84.     STREET  SCENE    IN  THE    LOUISVILLE    (KY.)  TOBAC 


stem,  20  to  25  per  cent ;  by  waste,  five  per  cent,  mak- 
ing a  total  loss  of  from  33  to  42  per  cent. 

The  making  of  strips  employs  a  great  number  of 


MARKETING   TOBACCO.  285 

persons,  mostly  those  of  a  dependent  class,  such  as 
women  and  children.  They  are  paid  from  25  cents  to 
40  cents  per  hundred  pounds  of  strips  made.  A  good 
stemmer  can  make  from  200  to  250  pounds  of  strips  a 
day.  Children  assist  the  older  persons  by  untying  the 
bundles  and  placing  the  leaves  in  a  convenient  position 
for  stemming.  Each  grade  of  strips  is  kept  to  itself. 
The  making  of  strips  is  a  distinct  branch  of  business 
rarely  engaged  in  by  tobacco  growers.  It  is  regarded 
as  a  necessary  preparation  of  the  tobacco  designed  for 
shipment  to  the  English  market,  where  the  duties  on 
tobacco  amount  to  from  12  to  15  times  the  prices  paid 
to  the  planter.  The  British  duty  is  3s  2d,  or  about  76 
cents  per  pound.  The  stem  is  removed,  because  it  is 
worthless,  or  nearly  so,  though  an  arrangement  has  been 
made  with  the  English  government  by  which  the  manu- 
facturer may  return  the  stems  into  the  hands  of  the 
proper  officer  for  destruction,  and  so  be  relieved  of  the 
tax. 

The  strips  are  made  very  dry,  because  every  pound 
of  water  which  they  may  carry  will  be  chargeable  with 
the  same  duty  paid  on  the  tobacco.  Within  recent 
years  the  English  government  has  taken  cognizance  of 
this  source  of  revenue  and  now  requires  a  duty  of 
3s  lOd,  or  92  cents,  a  pound  on  tobacco  containing  less 
than  10  per  cent  of  water. 

Tobacco  selected  for  the  making  of  strips  should  be 
capable  of  absorbing  a  great  deal  of  water,  for  all  the 
water  it  will  take  after  passing  through  the  hands  of  the 
excise  officers  will  be  so  much  added  to  the  profit.  The 
dealers  in  strips,  therefore,  other  things  being  equal, 
prefer  tobacco  that  will  make  the  least  loss  in  stemming, 
that  will  ue  a  great  absorber  of  moisture,  and  that  will 
bear  the  ocean  transportation  without  damage. 

Strips  are  made  with  all  classes  and  grades  of 
tobacco,  the  largest  percentage  from  heavy  shipping 


286  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

tobacco.  The  output  of  strips,  however,  increases  year 
by  year  in  the  White  Burley  and  yellow-tobacco  dis- 
tricts. These  styles  are  growing  popular  in  England. 
Strips  are  therefore  made  at  nearly  every  point  in  North 
Carolina,  Virginia  and  Tennessee,  where  the  yellow 
tobacco  is  grown,  as  well  as  in  those  localities  where  the 
White  Burley  tobacco  is  sold. 

The  great  strip  markets  of  the  United  States  are 
Eichmond,  Petersburg,  Lynchburg  and  Fannville  in 
Virginia ;  Henderson,  Paducah,  Louisville  and  Owens- 
boro  in  Kentucky ;  Clarksville,  Springfield  and  Paris  in 
Tennessee,  and  Evansville  in  Indiana.  There  are  nu- 
merous other  places  where  a  few  hundred  hogsheads  of 
strips  are  put  up  irregularly.  The  industry  is  rarely 
carried  on  at  such  small  places  except  when  the  prices 
of  strips  are  very  high.  The  make  of  Western  strips 
averages  from  28,000  hogsheads  to  30,000  hogsheads, 
and  those  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  13,000  hogs- 
heads, of  which  about  8,000  hogsheads  are  brights  and 
Burley. 

Magnitude  of  Heavy  Leaf  Trades. — This  does  not 
vary  much  from  year  to  year,  and  according  to  the 
movement  toward  primary  markets  there  is  room  for 
much  further  expansion  of  heavy  leaf  tobacco  growing, 
providing  an  adequate  market  can  be  found.  Aggregate 
receipts  at  the  big  market  places  are  averaging  a  little 
heavier  than  five  years  ago  and  more,  but  not  much. 
Taking  a  total  of  the  receipts  at  each  of  the  eight  lead- 
ing markets  where  heavy  tobacco  is  sold  at  first  hands, 
we  find  that  about  275,000  hogsheads  came  into  view  in 
1896.  This  was  a  decrease  from  1895,  but  practically 
the  same  as  in  1894  and  1892,  while  the  aggregate 
receipts  at  the  eight  markets  in  1890  were  about  250,000 
hogsheads.  Striking  an  average,  this  shows  annual 
receipts  covering  a  period  of  eight  years  amounting  to 
265,000  hogsheads,  which  fairly  represents  the  available 


MABKETING   TOBACCO.  287 

supply  of  heavy  leaf.  Louisville  'is  easily  the  largest 
primary  market,  receiving  in  1896  about  118,000  hogs- 
heads. Cincinnati  followed  with  68,000  and  Clarksville 
with  37,000  hogsheads.  Among  the  eight  leading  pri- 
mary markets  Hopkinsville  stands  forth  in  prominence, 
with  21,000  hogsheads  handled  in  1896,  Paducah 
17,000,  Mayfield  8,000,  St.  Louis  5,000  and  Nashville 
3,000.  The  beginning  of  each  year,  of  course,  finds 
more  or  less  stock  carried  over,  but  these  figures  afford 
a  good  index  of  the  general  movement.  The  freight 
rate  on  heavy  leaf,  from  Louisville  as  a  basis,  to  New 
York,  is  about  35  cents  per  100  pounds,  to  Baltimore 
32  cents,  to  Philadelphia  33  cents,  and  to  Boston  39 
cents. 


PART  II. 


HEAVY  LEAF  OR  EXPORT  TOBACCO, 


CHAPTEK   XIII. 

HEAVY   SHIPPING   TOBACCO. 

The  export,  or  heavy  shipping,  tobacco  is  so  called 
because  by  far  the  largest  proportion  of  it  is  taken  for 
foreign  consumption.  With  the  exception  of  an  incon- 
siderable quantity  used  in  the  manufacture  of  cheap 
cigars,  cheap  plug,  snuff,  and  the  making  of  sheep 
washes,  all  may  be  said  to  go  abroad.  Being  cured  by 
open  fires,  the  smoky,  or  creosotic,  flavor  is  not  relished 
by  the  people  of  the  United  States.  It  is  also  too  strong 
in  nicotine,  and  it  has  not  the  sweetness  of  taste  and 
delicacy  of  flavor  that  the  air  and  sun  cured  tobacco 
htis.  Another  reason  why  our  domestic  manufacturers 
do  not  encourage  its  use,  is  its  low  absorptive  capacity 
for  the  liquids  or  sauces  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
chewing  tobacco.  The  White  Burley  has  the  capacity 
to  absorb  nearly  three  times  its  weight  in  water,  while 
the  heavy  James  Eiver  or  Clarksville  tobacco  will 
scarcely  absorb  one-third  as  much.  This  makes  the 
White  Burley  much  more  profitable  to  the  manufacturer, 
for  he  can  produce  a  much  larger  amount  of  the  manu- 
factured product  from  a  given  quantity  of  White  Burley 
tobacco,  than  he  can  from  the  heavy  shipping  styles. 

When  tobacco  is  cured  by  open  fires,  the  pores  of  the 
leaves  become  surcharged  with  smoky  deposits,  and  the 
absorptive  capacity  of  the  cured  product  is  greatly  re- 
duced. Tobacco  cured  without  fires,  or  cured  with  flues 
or  by  exposure  to  the  sun,  is  much  better  suited  for  the 
manufacturer's  purpose  than  where  cured  by  smoky  fires. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  foreign  buyers  prefer  the  heavy 
291 


292  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

tobacco  because  it  is  strong,  and  may  be  adulterated 
with  inferior  tobacco  grown  in  other  countries  without 
diminishing  the  quantity  of  nicotine  below  a  certain 
standard.  The  people  of  Europe  have,  for  generations, 
been  accustomed  to  using  tobacco  cured  by  open  fires, 
and  their  tastes  have  been  educated  to  enjoy  the  smoky 
flavor. 

The  Soil  for  Shipping  Tobacco. — The  same  soil 
often  has  the  capacity  of  producing  imperfectly  all  the 
classes  of  tobacco,  but  such  versatility  in  the  soil  is  not 
favorable  for  yielding  the  highest  excellence  in  any  one 
of  the  classes.  There  must  be  a  natural  adaptation  in 
the  soil  and  climate  to  the  growth  of  a  particular  class, 
in  order  to  reach  the  highest  and  best  results.  There  is 
an  endless  variety  of  soils,  and  there  is  an  endless  variety 
of  types  and  sub-types  that  pass,  by  almost  impercep- 
tible gradations,  from  one  to  the  other. 

To  produce  the  best  shipping  leaf,  there  must  be  a 
strong,  rich  soil,  not  necessarily  deep,  but  with  a  large 
content  of  potash  in  its  composition.  Low  river  bot- 
toms subject  to  overflows  rarely  produce  the  best  quali- 
ties of  this  tobacco.  Too  much  vegetable  matter  in  the 
soil,  imperfectly  decomposed,  makes  a  large,  rough, 
harsh  tobacco,  wanting  in  all  the  best  qualities  of  a 
shipping  tobacco.  Upland  soils  are  usually  better 
drained  than  bottom  lands,  and  the  humus  from  such 
soils,  receiving  no  additions  from  other  than  natural 
sources,  is  not  excessive.  For  this  reason,  other  things 
being  equal,  such  soils  are  preferred  for  tobacco. 

One  of  the  most  famous  tobacco-growing  districts  is 
the  Clarksville,  embracing  the  counties  of  Montgomery, 
Dickson,  Humphreys,  Houston,  Cheatham,  Stewart  and 
Kobertson  in  Tennessee,  and  Trigg,  Christian,  Todd, 
Logan,  Simpson,  and  some  areas  in  the  Green  River 
district  of  Kentucky,  where  the  soil  is  not  deep  but  fer- 
tile, the  best  soils  having  a  deep,  reddish  subsoil,  in 


HEAVY   SHIPPING   TOBACCO.  293 

which  are  mingled  rotten  masses  of  flint,  or  chert, 
broken  into  small  angular  fragments.  The  latter  sup- 
plies warmth  and  drainage,  the  clayey  bed  retains  and 
supplies  moisture  to  the  growing  crop.  Upon  such  soils, 
the  plants  will  stand  long  in  the  field  after  being  appar- 
ently ripe,  thickening,  ripening,  and  mellowing  and 
storing  up  oily  matter,  making  the  leaf,  when  cured,  as 
soft  and  elastic  as  a  kid  glove.  The  best  shipping  leaf 
is  produced  upon  manured  lots  having  the  characteristic 
subsoil  mentioned.  Analysis  shows  this  soil  to  be  rich 
in  potash,  while  the  climate  is  especially  suited  to  the 
crop,  producing  the  best  tobacco  for  export  now  grown 
in  the  world. 

Western  Kentucky  and  western  Tennessee  grow 
shipping  tobacco  of  a  lower  quality  on  an  ashen-colored 
soil  that  is  light  and  friable,  containing  a  large  amount 
of  calcareous  matter  intermixed  with  a  fine,  sandy  mate- 
rial. Such  soils  are  very  easily  washed  and  gullied,  and 
the  crop  is  not  grown  on  them  as  much  as  formerly. 
The  Ohio  river  district  in  Kentucky  comprises  the  coun- 
ties of  Livingstone,  Crittenden,  Caldwell,  Lyon,  Han- 
cock, Breckenridge  and  Meade.  The  lower  Green  Eiver 
district — the  counties  of  Henderson,  Union,  Daviess, 
Webster,  Hopkins,  McLean  and  Muhlenberg — has 
mostly  a  soil  of  sandstone  and  shaly  derivation,  produc- 
ing tobacco  suitable  for  English  strips,  long,  wide^heavy 
and  coarse.  The  upper  Green  River  district — Barren, 
Warren,  Hardin,  Grayson,  Edmonson,  Hart,  Green, 
Larue,  Marion,  Taylor  and  Allen  counties — has  a  soil 
resembling  the  Clarksville  district,  yielding  tobacco  of 
heavy  body,  oily  face  and  smooth  texture.  White  Bur- 
ley  is  also  grown  in  this  district,  and  a  little  yellow 
tobacco  in  Hart  county,  on  gravelly  or  sandy  soils  with 
calcareous  subsoil,  giving  a  fine  and  silky  leaf  with  light 
body,  but  firm  and  tough  and  well  suited  for  plug  wrap- 
pers. Between  the  upper  and  lower  districts  is  the 


294  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

Green  Kiver  district  of  Butler  and  Ohio  counties,  whose 
product  is  not  of  such  good  quality. 

In  the  Cumberland  River  district  (embracing  the 
Tennessee  counties  of  Smith,  Trousdale,  Macon,  Clay, 
Jackson  and  Putnam,  and  portions  of  Sumner  and  Wil- 
son, and  in  Kentucky  the  counties  of  Metcalfe,  Eussell, 
Adair,  Clinton,  Cumberland,  Monroe,  Casey,  Wayne 
and  Pulaski),  tobacco  is  grown  mainly  on  the  low  bot- 
tom lands  and  is  coarse  and  bony,  wanting  in  flexibility, 
deficient  in  oil,  but  having  a  good  weight.  Heavy  to- 
bacco is  grown  in  many  parts 
of  Virginia  and  North  Caro- 
lina, on  dark,  rich  soils  with 
reddish  subsoils,  upon  which 
yellow  tobacco  is  never  pro- 
duced. Some  shipping  tobacco 
is  grown  on  such  dark  soils  in 
Maryland  and  South  Carolina. 
A  coarse  grade  of  shipping  to- 
bacco, almost  destitute  of  oil, 
is  grown  in  southern  Illinois 
and  Indiana.  Some  good  ship- 
ping leaf  is  grown  in  the  great 
Kanawha  valley  and  in  the 
counties  along  the  Ohio  river 
TOPPING  THE  PLANT,  in  West  Virginia,  the  alluvial 
soils  producing  the  best  leaf.  Missouri's  production 
has  fallen  rapidly,  as  its  leaf  has  large  stems  and  fiber, 
being  grown  generally  on  rich  bottom  lands  on  the 
North  bank  of  the  Missouri  river.  A  little  is  raised  in 
Arkansas. 

The  Color  of  the  Soil  seems  to  exert  a  great,  but 
not  always  a  controlling,  influence  in  determining  the 
color  of  the  product.  Rich  clays  of  any  color  will  pro- 
duce a  heavy,  waxy  leaf,  if  properly  manured  and 
planted  with  a  suitable  variety, — one  that  has  a  tendency 


HEAVY   SHIPPING   TOBACCO.  295 

to  grow  thick,  leathery  and  large.  Gray,  porous  soils, 
made  up  in  part  of  fine,  sandy  material,  will  develop 
a  thinner  but  finer  leaf,  particularly  if  planted  with  thin 
varieties  that  have  grown  upon  such  soils  for  a  number 
of  years.  Varieties  that  produce  a  high  quality  of  to- 
bacco on  soils  to  which  they  are  suited,  fail  when  planted 
on  soils  of  a  different  character.  The  popular  varieties 
known  by  the  names  of  Yellow  Prior  and  Orinoco, 
planted  upon  rich,  old  lands,  highly  manured,  will  yield 
a  strong,  dark  tobacco  full  of  gummy  matter,  rich  in 
nicotine,  known  as  "  black  fat,"  and  eminently  fitted 
for  the  German  market.  Planted  upon  light,  new  lands, 
the  product  of  the  same  varieties  is  yellow,  mottled  or 
piebald,  fine-flavored,  sweet  and  fragrant.  If  the  same 
variety  of  tobacco  be  planted  in  two  fields  in  situations 
precisely  similar,  and  soils  of  like  character,  one  field 
being  freshly  cleared  from  the  forest,  and  the  other  long 
cleared,  but  with  its  fertility  preserved,  the  product  of 
the  first  will  be  brighter  in  color  when  cured  by  artificial 
heat  or  by  the  desiccating  influence  of  the  sun  and  air, 
finer  in  texture  and  sweeter  in  flavor,  and  have  less  nico- 
tine in  its  composition  than  that  grown  on  the  old  land. 
The  first  will  be  in  demand  for  domestic  manufacture 
and  consumption,  and  the  latter  for  shipping  purposes. 
The  product  of  new  lands,  if  properly  cured  and  man- 
aged, is  for  the  most  part  profitable  if  suited  for  manu- 
facturing purposes,  but  if  the  soils  of  the  new  lands  are 
red,  and  otherwise  unsuited  to  the  growth  of  manufac- 
turing tobacco,  the  product  of  the  old,  highly  manured 
lots  makes  the  most  valuable  commodity. 

Preparation  of  the  Soil. — No  crop  requires  a  more 
careful  preparation  of  the  soil  for  its  successful  growth, 
than  tobacco  of  any  variety.  Most  of  the  cultivation, 
indeed,  should  be  performed  before  the  plants  are  set  in 
the  ground,  and  in  order  to  do  this  the  land  intended 
for  tobacco,  if  a  clayey  loam,  should  be  well  and  deeply 


296  TOBACCO   LEA.F. 

broken  in  the  fall  by  a  turning  plow  drawn  by  two  or 
three  horses  or  mules.  The  land  should  not  be  closely 
plowed,  but  left  in  ridges,  the  advantage  of  this  being 
that  a  much  larger  surface  is  exposed  to  the  ameliorating 
effects  of  the  winter  freezes.  If  the  depth  of  the  furrow 
should  be  eight  inches,  the  ridge  would  probably  be 
from  twelve  to  fifteen  inches  high,  allowing  a  portion  of 


FIG.  87.     THE  SUCKER,  TO  BE  REMOVED. 

the  dirt  to  fall  back  in  the  furrow  and  another  portion 
to  be  thrown  over  in  the  previously  run  furrow. 

If  the  section  of  one  of  these  ridges  is  an  equilateral 
triangle,  the  surface  exposure  will  be  increased  one- 
third,  and  two-thirds  will  reap  the  direct  benefit  of  the 
freezes.  The  freezes  and  thaws  alternating  will  pulver- 
ize and  mellow  the  soil  and  put  it  in  such  a  fine  mechan- 
ical condition,  that  the  subsequent  rebreaking  in  the 
following  February  or  March  will  put  it  in  prime  order 
for  the  growth  of  any  crop.  Upon  land  so  prepared,  the 
roots  of  plants  have  a  wide  pasture  ground,  where  they 
may  range  in  search  of  food  without  let  or  hindrance. 
The  air  can  penetrate  such  a  soil  easily,  and  the  capillary 


HEAVY    SHIPPING  TOBACCO.  297 

attraction  induced  by  such  pulverization  brings  moisture 
from  the  subsoil  in  seasons  of  the  greatest  drouth. 
And  not  the  least  of  the  beneficial  effects  of  such  a  prep- 
aration is  the  ease  with  which  the  superfluous  water  may 
be  absorbed,  for  the  greatest  of  all  enemies  to  the  tobacco 
plant  is  standing  water.  The  first  breaking,  in  the 
autumn,  should  take  place,  if  possible,  before  vegetation 
is  killed  by  frosts,  especially  if  old  meadows,  clover  pas- 
ture or  stubble  lands  are  selected  for  the  tobacco  crop  of 
-the  next  year.  Dead  grasses  plowed  under  after  mid- 
winter injure  the  succeeding  crop,  by  rendering  the  soil 
too  porous  and  thirsty.  Better  far,  if  the  breaking  up 
is  delayed,  to  burn  off  all  dead  vegetable  matter.  This 
burning  will,  at  least,  destroy  the  larvae  of  insects  and 
worms,  which  often  prey  upon  the  plants  when  first  set 
out,  not  only  destroying  them,  but  making  it  impossible 
to  grow  a  crop  of  tobacco  that  will  be  uniform  in  size, 
color  or  quality.  This  second  plowing  should  only  be 
half  as  deep  as  the  first,  unless  the  furrows  are  run  so 
close  together  that  the  slice  cut  by  the  plow  will  be  only 
half  reversed. 

Manuring. — Consult  Chapters  V  and  VI.  Previ- 
ous to  the  second  breaking  in  the  spring,  all  the  manure 
which  can  be  gathered  from  the  stables,  the  barnyards 
and  the  poultry  yards,  and  all  the  trash  from  the  tobacco 
barns,  including  the  stalks  and  ashes,  should  be  hauled 
upon  the  land,  and  especially  upon  those  spots  that  need 
it  the  most.  It  ought  to  be  so  distributed  that  the 
whole  field  intended  for  the  tobacco  crop  should  be 
made,  as  far  as  possible,  uniformly  fertile,  in  order  that 
the  crop  may  be  uniform  in  size  and  character.  Such 
crops  always  command  a  better  price,  other  things  being 
equal,  than  one  in  which  there  is  tobacco  of  every  size, 
color  and  quality.  A  favorite  place  for  growing  heavy 
tobacco  is  the  place  where  hogs  have  been  fatted  the 
previous  autumn.  If  broken  up  as  soon  as  the  hogs  are 


298  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

removed  and  before  the  rains  have  washed  the  substance 
from  the  droppings,  a  very  rich,  heavy  leaf  may  be  pro- 
duced. Good  farmers  keep  two  places  for  hog  pens,  so 
as  to  alternate  with  corn  and  tobacco. 

It  is  almost  impossible  for  the  grower  of  rich  to- 
bacco to  use  too  much  manure,  if  it  is  well  rotted  and 
thoroughly  incorporated  with  the  soil.  Mistakes  are 
often  made,  however,  in  applying  large  quantities  of 
fresh  manure  from  the  stables  just  before  the  land  is  set 
in  tobacco.  This  almost  always  results  in  impairing  the 


FIG.  88.  CUTTING  HEAVY  TOBACCO. 

quality  of  the  tobacco,  by  causing  field  fire.  It  is  far 
better  to  compost  all  stable  manure  with  rich  dirt,  ashes, 
tobacco  stalks,  etc.,  and  let  the  fermentation  cease  be- 
fore its  application  to  the  tobacco  field.  Far  better 
results  will  be  obtained.  Commercial  fertilizers  are 
coming  into  general  use,  while  planters  are  more  careful 
to  save  and  compost  all  possible  sources  of  plant  food 
about  the  farm. 


HEAVY   SHIPPING   TOBACCO.  299 

Laying  off  the  Land. — After  the  second  plowing, 
the  land  may  be  left  until  the  plants  are  nearly  ready  to 
set.  When  the  plants  in  the  seed  beds  have  leaves  on 
them  two  inches  long,  the  planter  should  proceed  to  give 
the  final  preparation  to  his  land  previous  to  setting  the 
crop.  It  should,  first  of  all,  be  well  harrowed  until  the 
surface  is  thoroughly  pulverized  to  the  depth  of  two  or 
three  inches.  It  must  then  be  laid  off  in  rows  three  and 
one-half  feet  each  way,  and  at  the  points  of  intersection, 
a  heaping  teaspoonful  or  more  of  some  good  guano  or 
superphosphate  of  lime,  or  a  little  well-rotted  manure  or 
old  ashes,  may  be  dropped  at  each  crossing,  and  the  hill 
made  over  the  fertilizer  with  a  hand  hoe,  care  being 
taken  to  incorporate  the  fertilizer  well  with  the  soil. 
The  hills  need  not  be  large  or  high.  The  tops  should 
be  cut  off  with  the  general  level  of  the  land,  and  patted, 
so  as  to  give  the  hills  compactness  enough  to  retain 
moisture. 

Many  farmers  lay  off  their  tobacco  land  three  feet 
by  four,  which  has  the  merit  of  giving  a  few  more  plants 
to  the  acre,  and  at  the  same  time  permits  the  cultivation 
of  the  crop  to  continue  for  a  longer  period  with  less 
injury  to  the  plants  from  the  bruising  and  breaking  of 
the  leaves.  If  the  wide  rows  are  run  north  and  south, 
more  of  the  sunlight  reaches  the  leaves,  and  matures 
them  more  evenly.  With  wide  rows  in  one  direction, 
the  work  of  worming  and  suckering  is  more  easily  per- 
formed, and  fewer  leaves  are  torn  or  broken  in  working 
between  the  rows. 

A  few  years  ago,  when  the  "black  fat"  German 
styles  were  in  the  greatest  demand,  and  at  the  highest 
prices,  several  intelligent  farmers  tried  the  experiment 
of  increasing  the  distance  between  the  plants  to  four 
feet  each  way,  believing  that  increased  space  would  give 
greater  room  for  development  and  expansion.  While  a 
few  were  pleased  with  the  results,  the  practice  has  been 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


HEAVY   SHIPPING   TOBACCO.  301 

generally  abandoned,  not  because  the  quality  of  the 
product  is  not  improved,  but  because  there  is  too  much 
land  cultivated  for  the  number  of  pounds  of  tobacco 
made.  Planted  3x4  feet,  there  are  3630  plants  to  the 
acre ;  3^x3$,  3556,  and  4x4,  2725.  This  made  a  differ- 
ence of  over  800  plants  to  the  acre,  which  will  not  be 
compensated  for  by  the  slightly  increased  quality  of  the 
tobacco  produced  when  planted  at  the  distance  of  four 
feet  each  way. 

Now  and  then  a  planter  will  be  found  who  prefers 
the  rows  to  be  laid  off  3x3  feet,  or  3ft.  3  in.x3  ft.  3  in. 
This  is  too  close,  except  for  some  very  small  varieties  of 
tobacco.  Planted  as  closely  as  this,  the  leaves,  being 
very  much  shaded,  do  not  secrete  the  gum  and  oils  nec- 
essary to  give  the  product  the  finish  and  beauty,  the 
softness  and  body,  the  strength  of  tissue  and  the  amount 
of  gum,  so  much  desired  in  the  shipping  leaf.  Thin, 
chaffy  tobacco,  such  as  is  made  in  the  shipping  districts 
by  being  planted  too  closely,  by  the  sterility  of  the  soil, 
by  the  bad  effects  of  weeds  and  grasses  growing  about 
the  plants,  by  bad  cultivation,  or  by  suffering  the  suck- 
ers to  grow  to  great  length,  has  but  one  market  in  all 
the  world,  and  that  is  Spain.  It  never  pays  to  raise 
heavy  shipping  tobacco  under  any  of  the  conditions 
named. 

There  is  a  way  of  preparing  land  for  tobacco  by 
which  it  is  practically  hilled  by  the  plow.  It  is  laid  off 
one  way  in  rows,  at  whatever  distance  the  planter  may 
desire.  The  fertilizers  or  manures  are  then  distributed 
in  the  bottom  of  the  row.  A  turning  plow  afterwards 
throws  two  furrows  on  this  row,  making  a  ridge.  The 
land  is  then  laid  off  at  right  angles  to  the  ridges.  The 
tops  of  the  severed  ridges  are  afterwards  cut  off  and 
patted,  and  this  makes  the  hills.  This  plan  is  preferred 
by  many  farmers,  because  of  the  great  economy  in  the 
hoc  work.  It  likewise  makes  the  application  of  the 


302  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

manure  or  fertilizer  more  easy  and  effective.  But  this 
practice  will  not  do,  either  on  rocky  or  cloddy  land,  or 
even  on  land  that  has  undecomposed,  turfy  matter  or 
grass  on  it. 

The  Preparation  of  "New  Ground"  differs  mainly 
in  the  manner  of  breaking  it.  All  trees  and  bushes 
must  be  removed,  the  brush,  trash  and  leaves  piled  up 
and  burned,  making  the  surface  as  clean  as  may  be. 
Remove  roots  as  well  as  possible,  by  plowing  and  har- 
rowing, and  then  plow  close  to  the  stumps  with  a  single 
horse  plow.  After  another  harrowing,  the  ground  is 
checked  off  and  the  hills  are  made.  No  weeds  or  grasses 
ever  trouble  the  crop  in  new  ground.  The  sprouts 
from  the  stumps,  however,  are  troublesome.  The  work 
of  preparing  new  ground  for  the  plant  involves  a  great 
deal  of  labor,  but  the  subsequent  work  in  cultivating 
the  crop  is  much  less  than  upon  old  land. 

For  sixty  years  after  the  settlement  of  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee,  four-fifths  of  the  tobacco  crop  was  grown 
upon  newly  cleared  lands,  or  that  which  had  been  in 
cultivation  only  one  year.  The  practice  among  tobacco 
planters,  up  to  1860,  was  to  clear  a  new  field  every  year, 
plant  it  in  tobacco  two,  and  frequently  three,  years  in 
succession,  and  then  turn  it  over  to  the  cultivation  of 
wheat,  oats  and  corn.  A  few  rich  lots  near  the  stables, 
cow  barns  and  hog  pens  were  planted  in  tobacco  in  reg- 
ular rotation  with  wheat,  but  the  great  reliance  for  the 
tobacco  crop  was  the  fresh  lands.  Within  the  past  forty 
years  this  practice  has  been  reversed,  and  now  four-fifths 
of  all  the  tobacco  grown  in  the  heavy  shipping  districts 
of  the  United  States  is  planted  upon  old,  manured  lots. 
The  tobacco  is  not  so  well  colored  as  when  planted  upon 
new  lands,  but  upon  lands  well  manured  it  is  heavier 
and  richer  than  when  planted  upon  new  lands.  It  must 
be  conceded,  however,  that  a  much  larger  proportion  of 
inferior  lands  is  now  planted  than  there  was  forty  years 


HEA.VY   SHIPPING   TOBACCO.  303 

ago,  and  this  has  caused  a  perceptible  deterioration  in 
the  average  product. 

Seed  Beds,  Plants,  Transplanting. — See  Chapters 
VII  and  VIII. 

Cultivating  the  Crop. — With  suitable  weather,  it 
requires  about  ten  days  for  the  plants  to  establish  them- 
selves upon  old  lands.  The  first  cultivation  is  then 
given  with  a  one-horse  turning  plow,  which  is  run  with 
the  bar  side  next  to  the  plants,  throwing  the  dirt  away 
from  the  plants  to  the  center  of  the  row.  When  prop- 


,         . 

*T$^*yiiiw 


FIG.  90.     HEAVY  SHIPPING  TOBACCO  ON  SCAFFOLD  IN  FIELD. 

erly  done,  this  leaves  the  plants  standing  upon  a  narrow 
strip  of  undisturbed  soil,  which  is  easily  and  rapidly 
cleared  of  any  grass  or  weeds  by  the  use  of  the  hoe  which 
usually  follows  the  plow.  All  weeds  or  grasses  between 
the  rows  are  covered  up  by  the  dirt  thrown  to  the  mid- 
dle in  plowing,  where  it  forms  a  ridge.  If  the  land  is 
free  from  grass,  the  first  plowing  is  often  done  with 
double  shovel  plows,  which  pulverize  the  soil  much  bet- 
ter than  the  turning  plow.  After  a  few  days,  the 
weather  continuing  favorable,  the  second  cultivation 


304  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

follows,  and  is  precisely  like  the  first,  only  at  right  an- 
gles to  it.  All  tobacco  grown  in  the  heavy  shipping 
districts  is  planted  in  checks,  and  so  is  worked  alter- 
nately at  right  angles,  first  one  way  and  then  the  other. 
No  hoe  work  is  necessary  with  the  second  plowing,  un- 
less the  work  has  been  so  delayed,  or  the  rains  have  been 
so  abundant  as  to  allow  the  weeds  to  get  a  start.  It  fre- 
quently occurs  that  the  wheat  harvest  and  the  early 
working  of  the  tobacco  crop  are  coincident.  The  grasses 
sometimes  get  a  rank  start,  but  if  subsequently  eradi- 
cated, no  damage  is  suffered  other  than  retarding  the 
early  maturity  of  the  plant  and  adding  greatly  to  the 
work.  Tobacco  is  a  weed,  and  though  drouth  may 
check  its  growth  and  noxious  weeds  and  grasses  may 
apparently  choke  it,  yet  when  rains  come  and  the  weeds 
are  exterminated  and  the  grounds  sufficiently  worked, 
the  most  unpromising  plants  will  soon  show  a  wonderful 
outcome.  Of  all  the  crops  grown,  it  suffers  least  by  early 
neglect.  Nevertheless,  the  more  rapidly  it  is  worked, 
the  less  work  the  crop  will  require. 

While  the  presence  of  weeds  and  grass,  in  the  early 
stages  of  the  growth  of  the  tobacco  plant,  seem  only  to 
delay  its  period  of  ripening  without  doing  it  any  perma- 
nent injury,  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  nothing  injures 
the  quality  of  the  product  more  than  competition  with 
other  vegetation,  after  it  has  been  topped.  Every  spear 
of  grass  and  every  weed,  after  that  time,  robs  the  tobacco 
of  strength  and  detracts  from  the  quality  of  the  crop. 

A  third  cultivation  with  a  shovel  plow,  with  two 
furrows  to  the  row  and  running  both  ways,  should  fol- 
low in  six  or  eight  days  from  the  second  cultivation. 
At  the  next  cultivation  the  dirt  is  thrown  to  the  plant. 
Three  or  more  furrows  are  run  in  each  row,  so  as  to 
break  out  the  middles  entirely.  This  gives  a  wide,  gen- 
erous bed  of  loose  earth  about  the  plant,  supplying  its 
increasing  demand  for  food.  Just  previous  to  this 


HEAVY   SHIPPING   TOBACCO.  305 

fourth  working,  it  is  the  usual  practice  to  pull  off  from 
four  to  five  of  the  lower  leaves,  so  that  the  earth  may 
enwrap  the  stalk  without  hindrance.  Some  planters 
affect  to  believe  that  the  "priming,"  as  this  operation 
is  called,  induces  a  bleeding,  or  waste,  of  sap,  detri- 
mental to  the  health  of  the  plant.  This  can  hardly  be 
true,  as  it  often  occurs  that  two  planters  living  on  ad- 
joining farms  will  each  have  a  different  practice  in  this 
particular  ;  but  no  evidence  has  ever  been  adduced  that 
the  yield  of  the  crop  per  acre  has  been  added  to  or  taken 
from  by  either  practice.  The  best  and  only  reason  for 
not  priming  is,  that  the  lower  leaves  will  protect  the 
upper  ones  from  earth  burn,  and  the  spattering  of  dirt 
during  hard  rains.  This  whole  question  has  been  often 
discussed,  and  no  satisfactory  reason  has  been  given  why 
the  one  practice  should  uniformly  prevail,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  other.  With  all  the  leaves  remaining  on  the 
stalk,  the  plant  has  more  to  support.  The  leaves  also 
afford  a  refuge  for  the  horn  worms.  With  the  lower 
leaves  taken  off,  a  larger  proportion  of  the  crop,  as 
housed,  will  be  injured  in  the  way  mentioned  above. 

It  was  once  almost  universal  to  follow  this  plowing 
with  a  hoe,  and  make  a  low,  flat  hill  around  the  plant, 
but  this  has  been  abandoned  as  unnecessary  work.  A 
few  planters  "lay  by"  their  crop  with  this  plowing,  but 
all  experiments  have  demonstrated  that  the  product  will 
be  the  heavier  and  richer  with  two  or  more  additional 
plowings.  Even  where  the  tobacco  is  so  large  that  it 
may  not  be  plowed  without  great  injury  from  the  break- 
ing of  leaves,  a  stirring  of  the  surface  of  the  ground 
around  the  plants  with  hoes,  especially  if  the  land  be 
baked  after  heavy  rains,  is  accompanied  with  highly 
beneficial  results. 

Planters  differ  as  to  whether  the  last  plowing  should 
be  with  a  double  shovel  plow,  which  leaves  the  land  ap- 
proximately level,  or  whether  the  dirt  should  be  thrown 
20 


306 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


K 

8 


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it! 

I 


HEAVY   SHIPPING   TOBACCO.  307 

to  the  plant  by  a  turning  plow.  The  advantage  of  the 
last  method  is  that  the  plants  are  not  so  easily  blown 
down  during  heavy  rains,  should  such  rains  be  accom- 
panied with  wind.  On  the  other  hand,  level  culture  is 
the  best  for  dry  weather.  The  truth  seems  to  be  that 
the  one  or  the  other  is  to  be  preferred,  as  the  season 
may  be  dry  or  wet.  A  practice  recently  introduced, 
which  partakes  of  both,  is  to  run  a  narrow  harrow  across 
the  ridges,  leaving  a  square  bank  of  earth  about  each 
plant. 

In  some  portions  of  the  heavy-tobacco  district  in 
Virginia,  no  hills  are  made  to  receive  the  plants.  After 
the  land  has  been  pulverized  by  deep  harrowing,  it  is 
rolled,  then  checked  and  planted.  The  after  culture  is 
all  level,  with  but  little  work  with  the  hoe.  On  high, 
rolling,  porous  lands,  this  method  is  probably  the  best, 
for  level  culture  retains  the  moisture  and  prevents,  in 
some  degree,  the  washing  away  of  the  soils  in  times  of 
excessive  rains.  In  the  preparation  of  the  soil,  in  the 
planting  of  the  crop,  or  in  the  after  cultivation  of  the 
crop,  one  caution  must  be  emphasized,  that  clayey  lands 
must  never  be  stirred  when  wet.  The  baking  of  the 
soil,  which  results,  often  proves  disastrous  to  the  healthy 
growth  of  the  plant. 

Topping,  Worming  and  Sucker  ing  Tobacco. — Top- 
ping, Fig.  86,  is  not  a  difficult  task,  but  it  requires  some 
skill  and  practice,  and  is  highly  important  that  it  be 
performed  at  the  proper  time.  Six  weeks  from  the  time 
the  plant  is  set  in  new  ground,  and  eight  weeks  after  it 
is  set  in  old  ground,  the  seed  bud  should  appear  in  a 
majority  of  plants,  after  good  cultivation  and  seasonable 
weather.  These  seed,  or  terminal  buds,  are  called 
"buttons."  Topping  is  performed  by  pinching  out 
these  terminal  buds,  leaving  eight,  ten  or  twelve  leaves 
to  the  plant,  as  the  judgment  of  the  planter  may  deter- 
mine. Topping  should  mot  be  deferred  until  the  plants 


308 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


are  in  blossom,  but  should  be  done  just  as  soon  as  the 
required  number  of  leaves  can  be  secured.  The  leaves 
coming  out  from  the  stalk  within  six  inches  of  the 
ground,  should  not  be  counted,  and'they  are  primed  off 
or  left  on,  as  one  may  be  an  advocate  of  priming,  or 
opposed  to  it.  The  arrangement  of  the  leaves  about  the 
stalk  in  pairs  makes  it  easy  to  top  without  counting.  If 
ten  leaves  are  to  be  left  on  each  plant,  then  the  upper 


FIG.    92.      SCKEW   PRESS    FOR    PRIZING    TOBACCO,    WITH    HOGSHEAD   IN 
POSITION. 

leaves  will  hang  directly  over  the  lower  ones.  If  eight 
or  twelve  are  to  be  left,  the  top  leaves  are  found  nearly 
at  right  angles  to  the  lower  ones. 

The  quality  of  the  product  is  greatly  influenced  by 
the  number  of  leaves  left  upon  the  plant.  The  majority 
of  planters  of  the  heavy-tobacco  districts  have  long  been 
of  the  opinion  that  not  more»than  ten  leaves  should  be 


HEAVY   SHIPPING   TOBACCO.  309 

left.  A  very  intelligent  minority  advocates  the  leaving 
of  only  eight,  and  some  interesting  experiments  seem  to 
favor  this  number.  It  is  said  that  on  rich  soils  the  max- 
imum weight  and  quality  will  be  obtained  with  eight 
leaves;  that  the  labor  of  suckering  will  be  lessened;  that 
the  number  of  leaves  to  be  stripped  from  the  stalk  will 
be  reduced  one-fifth,  and  that  the  high  quality  and  the 
increase  of  weight  will  make  the  profit  proportionately 
greater.  The  standard  of  ten  leaves  has  been  generally 
adopted  for  the  first  topping.  As  the  season  advances, 
this  number  is  reduced  with  each  succeeding  topping  in 
the  same  field.  Usually,  when  the  plants  have  not  been 
destroyed  by  insect  enemies  or  drouth,  and  the  cultiva- 
tion has  been  regular  and  uniform,  about  one-half  the 
plants  come  into  top  at  the  same  time.  The  second  top- 
ping takes  place  about  a  week  after  the  first,  at  which 
time  nearly  every  plant  should  be  topped,  unless  there 
is  a  great  inequality  in  the  situation  or  in  the  fertility  of 
the  soil. 

In  pinching  out  the  bud,  one  should  be  very  careful 
not  to  injure  the  tender  top  leaves.  A  very  slight  injury 
will  develop  into  serious  blemishes  when  the  leaf  has 
reached  its  fullest  expansion.  An  inexperienced  man 
should  never  be  allowed  to  top  tobacco.  It  is  a  task 
that  requires  the  utmost  care  and  the  closest  attention. 
Carelessness  in  topping  may  greatly  impair  the  value  of 
the  crop,  for  if  more  leaves  are  left  on  one  plant  than  on 
another,  the  plants  will  ripen  unevenly  and  irregularly, 
which  is  always  an  injury.  Every  plant  that  is  carried 
to  the  barn  to  be  cured  should,  if  possible,  be  of  like 
maturity,  in  order  to  secure  a  uniform  quality  in  the 
product. 

When  the  seed  bud  has  been  removed,  the  plant 
makes  vigorous  efforts  to  reproduce  itself,  and  every  bud 
at  the  axils  of  the  leaves  begins  to  produce  subsidiary 
plants,  each  one  of  which,  if  left  undisturbed,  will  bios- 


310  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

som  and  mature  seed.  These  subsidiary  plants  (Fig.  87) 
are  called  "suckers,"  and  must  be  diligently  removed, 
not  only  from  the  axils  of  the  leaves,  but  from  the  base 
of  the  stalk,  otherwise  the  crop  leaves  will  be  dwarfed 
and  robbed  of  all  substance  and  good  qualities. 

Worming. — Even  before  the  topping  of  the  plant, 
the  Sphinx  moths,  or  horn  worms,  begin  to  feed  upon 
the  plant,  and  until  the  frosts  come  they  are  always 
present  in  a  greater  or  less  force.  See  Chapter  XI,  on 
Pests  of  Tobacco.  The  suckering  and  worming  are  car- 
ried on  at  the  same  time.  If  the  suckers  are  allowed  to 
grow  long,  every  one  becomes  a  shelter  and  hiding  place 
for  the  worms,  which  find  their  way  back  to  the  plant 
from  the  suckers  after  the  latter  have  been  pulled  off 
and  thrown  on  the  ground.  They  thus  continue  their 
depredations  until  the  planter  goes  over  his  crop  again. 

Cutting  and  Housing  Tobacco. — From  six  to  eight 
weeks,  in  the  heavy-tobacco  districts,  usually  elapse 
from  the  time  of  topping  until  a  sufficient  number  of 
plants  are  ripe  enough  to  make  the  first  cutting.  This 
usually  occurs  from  the  1st  to  the  10th  of  September. 
The  maturity  of  the  plant  is  indicated  by  its  general 
appearance.  The  leaves  droop,  the  tails  of  the  top 
leaves  sometimes  almost  touching  the  ground.  They 
become  heavy  and  thick,  mottled  with  yellowish  spots, 
crisp  and  tender,  breaking  easily,  especially  when  the 
dew  is  on  them.  They  have  an  oily,  granulated  appear- 
ance, and  their  upper  surfaces  are  thick  with  a  gummy 
substance  which  is  secreted  most  abundantly  during  cool 
nights  with  heavy  dews.  Cut  when  fully  matured,  the 
tobacco  plant  reaches  its  maximum  in  weight  and  in 
those  qualities  that  commend  it  to  the  shippers.  If  the 
cutting  be  deferred  too  long,  round,  brown  spots  will 
begin  to  appear  on  the  leaves,  which  are  signals  of  decay 
and  deterioration.  It  rarely  occurs  that  all  the  plants 
in  the  field  will  ripen  at  once.  Several  conditions  are 


HEAVY   SHIPPING  TOBACCO.  311 

required,  for  this  to  happen — a  remarkable  uniformity 
in  the  fertility  of  the  soil ;  precisely  similar  surface  ex- 
posures ;  the  setting  of  all  the  plants  of  equal  hardiness 
the  same  day,  and  the  topping  of  all  the  plants  at  the 
same  time,  with  an  equal  number  of  leaves  on  each. 
Newly  cleared  lands  will  ripen  the  plants  from  six  to 
ten  days  earlier  than  old  land,  both  originally  of  the 


same  character.  A  southern  exposure,  a  rocky  soil, 
stimulating  manure,  an  early  suspension  of  the  work  of 
cultivation,  will  all  hasten  the  period  of  maturity. 

As  a  general  thing,  the  planter  is  fortunate  if  one- 
half  the  plants  in  a  field  are  ready  for  the  knife  at  the 
first  cutting.  As  the  season  advances  and  the  danger 
from  frosts  begins,  the  field  is  cut  clean,  although  there 


312  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

may  be  some  green  plants  ;  for  a  plant  cut  before  matur- 
ity is  much  more  valuable  than  a  frosted  one.  The 
instrument  used  for  cutting  is  a  butcher  knife,  with  a 
thin  blade  about  six  inches  long.  The  handle  of  the 
knife  should  be  well  wrapped  with  old  woolen  rags,  for 
however  hard  the  hand  may  be,  in  housing  a  large  crop 
of  tobacco  it  will  be  made  sore  by  the  constant  pressure 
on  the  back  of  a  wooden  handle.  Another  tobacco  cut- 
ter has  been  introduced  within  the  past  ten  years,  that 
does  effective  work.  It  is  in  the  shape  of  a  spade,  but 
only  about  eight  inches  long.  It  has  a  square  steel 
blade  two  and  one-half  inches  wide,  welded  to  an  iron 
shaft  four  and  one-half  inches  long,  to  the  end  of  which 
a  handle  an  inch  in  diameter  and  four  inches  Jong  is 
fastened.  Many  prefer  this  to  a  butcher  knife.  Such 
an  implement  is  much  used  in  the  seed  leaf  districts  of 
Pennsylvania.  A  hatchet  is  also  used. 

Of  two  evils,  it  is  better  to  let  tobacco  stand  a  little 
too  long  in  the  field  than  to  cut  it  green.  Thoroughly 
ripe  tobacco  has  much  more  weight  and  thickness,  and 
makes  a  much  better  article  for  shipping  purposes,  than 
if  cut  before  it  is  fully  ripe.  In  about  three  weeks  after 
tobacco  is  topped,  with  seasonable  weather,  the  leaves 
attain  their  full  expansion.  After  this  they  thicken 
until  the  plant  is  ready  for  the  knife,  which  is  shown  by 
the  signs  of  maturity  already  described.  There  is  as 
much  difference  between  the  flavor  of  tobacco  after  it  is 
cured,  cut  when  ripe,  and  that  cut  green,  as  there  is 
between  the  flavor  of  a  full  ripe  strawberry  and  one  that 
is  only  partially  ripe. 

If  possible  to  avoid  it,  tobacco  should  not  be  cut 
immediately  after  a  heavy  rain.  Rain  water  dissolves 
and  washes  away  much  of  the  gummy  matter  that  adds 
to  the  weight  of  the  tobacco  leaf  and  gives  it  body.  In 
three  or  four  days  after  a  rain,  the  gummy  matter  will 
be  again  secreted,  especially  if  the  nights  are  cool  and 


HEAVY  SHIPPING  TOBACCO.  313 

the  dews  heavy.  If  the  weather  is  threatening,  so  there 
is  a  probability  that  a  rain  will  occur  before  the  tobacco 
can  be  carried  to  the  barn,  it  should  not  be  cut.  Noth- 
ing injures  tobacco  more  than  to  be  caught  in  a  shower 
of  rain  after  it  has  been  severed  from  the  ground,  and 
the  plants  inverted  upon  the  hills.  The  water  deposits 
mud  upon  the  upturned  leaves  or  spatters  them  with 
dirt.  The  plants  also  get  in  a  "strut," — that  is,  they 
will  not  wilt,  and  if  handled  in  such  condition,  great 
breakage  of  leaves  ensues.  The  bad  effects  of  the  dirt 
that  adheres  to  the  leaves  will  never  disappear.  The 
spots  covered  with  mud  cure  a  bad  color,  and  the  vitality 
of  the  leaf  at  such  places  seems  to  be  destroyed. 

Nor  should  tobacco  be  cut  while  the  sun  is  very  hot, 
as  in  that  case  it  will  be  parched  by  the  heat,  thus  mak- 
ing permanent  green  spots,  an  injury  from  which  it 
never  recovers.  The  very  worst  time  of  all  to  cut  to- 
bacco is  in  the  morning  of  a  hot  day  while  the  dew  is 
still  on  the  plant.  Cut  under  such  conditions,  a  great 
many  leaves,  owing  to  their  brittleness,  will  break  off 
from  the  stalk.  The  leaves  being  wet  with  dew,  the 
dirt  will  adhere  to  them  when  the  plants  are  inverted  on 
the  hills,  and  lastly,  the  sun  is  most  likely  to  scorch  the 
plants  before  they  will  wilt. 

These  negative  conditions  being  given,  it  will  be 
readily  inferred  that  a  hazy,  not  cloudy,  day  is  the  best 
for  cutting  tobacco,  when  the  heat  of  the  sun  is  tempered 
by  the  haziness  of  the  atmosphere.  In  the  afternoon, 
between  three  and  five  o'clock,  is  also  a  good  time.  It 
should  be  cut  late  enough  in  the  afternoon  to  prevent 
sunburn,  and  early  enough  to  wilt,  or  fall,  before  night, 
so  that  it  may  be  put  in  piles. 

To  cut  the  tobacco  plant  with  a  knife,  one  should 
stand  over  the  plant,  place  the  blade  of  the  knife  at 
right  angles  to  the  two  upper  leaves,  and  split  the  body 
of  the  stalk  down  to  within  two  or  three  inches  of  the 


314  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

lower  leaves,  Fig.  88.  Withdrawing  the  knife  and 
grasping  the  stalk  about  midway  with  the  left  hand,  the 
cutter  bends  it  slightly  from  him,  at  the  same  time  in- 
serting the  knife  under  the  lower  leaves,  he  severs  the 
stalk.  The  plant  is  then  turned  over  and  set  on  the 
hill.  In  half  an  hour,  unless  it  is  very  cool,  the  plants 
will  have  wilted  enough  to  handle  without  breakage. 
The  tobacco  is  then  put  in  piles,  each  pile  containing 
the  number  of  plants  required  to  fill  a  stick.  This 
number  varies  from  six  to  twelve,  according  to  the  size 
of  the  plants. 

Each  person  engaged  in  making  and  arranging  these 
piles,  takes  two  rows  and  puts  all  the  piles  on  one  row 
with  the  heads  of  the  plants  towards  the  sun.  The  next 
two  rows  are  piled  on  the  row  adjacent  to  the  first  row 
of  piles.  That  is  to  say,  four  rows  of  tobacco  are  piled 
upon  two  adjacent  rows.  The  object  of  piling  it  in  this 
manner  is  to  give  an  opening  wide  enough  for  a  wagon 
to  pass.  The  stick  dropper  follows,  who  places  one 
stick  at  each  pile.  These  sticks  are  usually  rived  from 
red  oak  or  hickory,  and  are  about  4£  feet  long  and  about 
lxl£  inches  thick. 

To  hang  the  tobacco,  a  stick  is  punched  down  in 
the  soft  hill,  making  an  angle  of  about  45  to  60  degrees 
with  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  sloping  a  little  east 
of  north.  The  object  in  sloping  it  in  this  direction  is  to 
give  protection  to  the  leaves  from  the  heat  of  the  sun 
during  the  hottest  parts  of  the  day.  The  plants  are 
taken  up  one  at  a  time  and  straddled  over  the  stick, 
with  the  heads  to  the  south  or  southwest,  Fig.  89. 
When  all  the  plants  in  the  pile  are  put  upon  the  stick, 
the  tails  of  the  leaves  are  drawn  closely  together  and 
tucked  under,  so  as  to  expose  as  little  surface  as  possible. 
When  the  tobacco  has  been  hung,  it  is  ready  to  be  car- 
ried to  the  curing  house  or  to  a  scaffold.  Some  tobacco 
is  still  put  upon  scaffolds  in  the  heavy-tobacco-growing 


HEAVY  SHIPPING  TOBACCO.  315 

regions,  and  it  is  a  good  practice,  if  the  weather  is  fair. 
If  tobacco  is  very  heavy  and  the  distance  to  the  curing 
house  is  as  much  as  half  a  mile,  much  time  may  be 
saved  by  scaffolding  in  the  field  for  several  days.  Then 
double  the  quantity  may  be  hauled  in  a  load.  But  if 
there  is  a  foreshadowing  of  rain  or  stormy  weather,  it  is 
far  better  to  carry  it  to  the  barn  at  once.  It  does  not 
injure  the  tobacco  much  to  be  caught  in  a  rain  while  on 
the  scaffolds,  unless  the  rains  are  long  continued.  When 
the  rains  last  a  day  or  two,  the  tobacco  gets  very  crisp, 
and  it  is  difficult  to  handle  it  without  doing  a  great 
deal  of  damage  by  bruising  and  breaking  the  leaves. 
Scaffolds  are  nothing  but  poles  arranged  four  feet  apart, 
and  sufficiently  high  above  the  ground  for  the  tails  of 
the  tobacco  to  hang  clear.  These  poles  may  be  sup- 
ported at  one  end  by  a  bed  pole,  and  at  the  other  by 
forks.  Scaffolds  are  often  made  in  the  corners  of  the 
zigzag  rail  fences  that  enclose  the  fields.  They  are  con- 
structed by  resting  three  rails,  or  poles,  on  top  of  the 
fence,  supported  at  the  outer  end  by  forks  or  other  con- 
venient means,  so  as  to  make  two  tiers,  upon  which  the 
sticks  holding  the  tobacco  are  arranged.  It  does  not 
injure  the  tobacco  to  crowd  it  upon  an  outdoor  scaffold. 
It  will  yellow  the  more  readily  by  being  so  crowded. 
However  closely  it  may  be  put,  in  a  day  or  two  the  wilt- 
ing of  the  plant  and  the  evaporation  will  make  it  an 
easy  matter  to  put  the  sticks  still  more  closely. 

In  four  or  five  days  it  should  be  taken  from  the 
scaffold  and  arranged  for  curing  in  the  barns.  Tobacco 
that  has  been  on  a  scaffold  for  a  few  days  may  be  ar- 
ranged a  fourth  closer  in  the  barns  than  that  taken  to 
the  barns  directly  from  the  fields.  In  the  early  history 
of  tobacco  culture,  scaffolds  were  almost  universally 
used.  For  a  time,  within  the  past  twenty  years,  they 
were  almost  universally  discarded.  More  recently,  how- 
ever, this  preparatory  curing  is  being  adopted  by  many 


316 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


good  farmers,  because  by  this  method  the  plant  is  com- 
pletely wilted  before  it  is  put  in  the  barns ;  the  texture 
is  softened,  the  leaf  yellows  into  a  clear  golden  color, 
and  it  cures  much  more  easily  and,  with  care,  into  good 
colors,  the  leaves  having  the  toughness  and  elasticity 
required  in  shipping  tobacco."  Throughout  the  White 


FIG.  94.     HEAVY  TOBACCO  READY  TO  BE  SHIPPED. 

Burley  districts  scaffolding  tobacco  is  an  almost  univer- 
sal practice. 

If  cool  nights  threaten  frost,  it  sometimes  becomes 
necessary  to  cut  great  fields  in  a  single  day.  When  so 
cut,  it  is  heaped  up  before  it  wilts  in  what  are  known 
as  "frost  piles. "  The  tobacco  is  heaped  around  a  center. 
To  begin  such  a  heap,  two  persons  take  each  six  or  eight 
plants  in  their  hands,  and  standing  opposite  one  another, 
the  ends  of  the  tails  are  put  nearly  together  on  the 
ground,  with  the  heads  of  the  plants  leaning  towards 
each  person.  The  heads  are  then  brought  together  and 


HEAVY    SHIPPING   TOBACCO.  317 

supported  in  a  position  nearly  upright  by  the  inclination 
of  each  parcel  towards  the  center.  It  is  important  that 
the  tails  be  kept  tucked  under.  Bunches  of  plants  are 
set  up  around  this  center,  in  the  same  way,  until  enough 
is  put  together  to  fill  thirty  or  forty  sticks.  The  heap 
is  then  covered  with  straw,  cornstalks,  old  carpets,  or 
anything  to  protect  it  from  damage  by  frost.  In  a  few 
days  the  tobacco  takes  on  a  golden  color,  when  it  is  hung 
and  carried  to  the  barn.  Continued  rains  do  great  dam- 
age to  the  tobacco  when  so  heaped.  It  not  only  gets  in 
a  "strut,"  but  becomes  dirty  and  breaks  easily. 

The  tobacco  is  transferred  from  the  fields  or  scaf- 
folds to  the  barn  by  wagons  in  one  of  three  ways : 
Either  by  hanging  the  sticks  containing  the  tobacco  on 
the  upper  railings  of  a  long  wagon  bed,  or  frame,  four 
feet  deep  and  four  feet  wide ;  or  the  tobacco  on  the 
sticks  is  "cooped"  in  piles,  the  heads  turned  outwards 
and  alternately  to  one  side  or  the  other  ;  or  the  tobacco 
is  carried  on  a  low  frame  not  more  than  one  foot  high, 
the  sticks  being  hung  on  the  upper  railings,  with  the 
tails  of  the  plants  lying  flat  in  the  bottom  of  the  frame, 
or  tucked  under.  When  eight  or  ten  sticks  have  been 
so  arranged,  other  sticks  filled  with  tobacco  are  piled  on 
top,  in  shingle  fashion.  The  advantage  in  having  a 
low  frame  is,  that  the  heads  will  lean  over  so  as  to  be 
nearly  flat,  and  the  tobacco  piled  on  this  foundation  will 
not  be  punctured  by  the  butt  ends.  A  larger  quantity 
can  be  carried  in  a  wagon  in  this  way,  than  in  either  of 
the  others.  Fig.  91  shows  a  new  style  of  wagon  that  is 
very  desirable  for  this  work. 

A  method  of  taking  tobacco  to  the  curing  house 
once  much  used,  but  now  generally  abandoned,  was  to 
have  two  or  more  light  sleds.  Instead  of  piling  the 
plants  in  the  field,  they  were  piled  on  the  low  platforms 
of  the  sleds,  with  the  heads  outward,  as  shown  in  Fig.  30. 
When  a  load  of  sufficient  weight  was  put  on  the  sled  for 


318  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

the  team,  it  was  hauled  to  the  barn,  the  team  unhitched, 
and  an  empty  sled  taken  to  the  field  to  be  filled  in  turn. 
The  tobacco  was  hung  from  the  sleds  under  the  shade 
of  the  barn,  and  immediately  elevated  to  the  tier  poles. 
This  method  saves  much  handling,  and  lessens  the  prob- 
ability of  injury  from  sunburn  or  from  a  shower  of  rain. 
Sleds  were  used  because  they  were  cheaply  made,  and 
may  be  built  of  a  bight  most  convenient  for  putting  on 
and  taking  off  the  plants.  Low  wagons  or  carts  are 
more  easily  drawn  and  equally  as  convenient,  and  the 
style  shown  in  Fig.  91  is  coming  into  general  use. 

When  taken  directly  to  the  barn  from  the  field,  a 
distance  of  eight  inches  should  intervene  between  the 
sticks,  when  adjusted  on  the  tier  poles.  Put  closer  than 
this  would  be  to  invite  danger  from  house  burn  or 
pole  sweat.  When  taken  from  the  scaffold,  the  in- 
terval between  the  sticks  need  not  he  greater  than  six 
inches.  A  good  day's  work  for  a  man,  in  cutting  and 
housing  tobacco,  is  from  100  to  150  sticks.  When  the 
field  is  cut  clean,  a  third  or  more  may  be  housed  than 
when  the  ripest  plants  only  are  selected  for  the  first 
cutting. 

Curing  Heavy- Shipping  Tobacco  is  fully  described 
in  the  chapter  on  curing. 

Assorting,  Stripping  and  Preparing  Heavy-Ship- 
ping Tobacco  for  Market. — After  the  crop  has  been 
housed  and  properly  cured,  and  the  colors  fixed  by  re- 
peatedly "drying  the  tobacco  out"  by  artificial  heat,  it 
is  then  ready  to  be  assorted  and  stripped.  Usually  the 
stems  and  stalks  are  not  sufficiently  cured  to  begin  this 
work  until  about  the  middle  of  November.  It  is  not 
safe  to  put  the  tobacco  in  bulk  before  that  time.  After 
this  time,  when  the  leaves  become  pliant  through  the 
influence  of  damp  weather  or  a  warm  rain,  the  tobacco 
should  be  taken  down,  the  sticks  withdrawn  and  plants 
laid  on  a  platform  with  heads  out,  and  tails  overlapping 


HEAVY    SHIPPING   TOBACCO.  319 

in  the  center.  Or  there  may  be,  by  making  the  bulk 
wider,  several  layers  in  the  center.  If  taken  down  when 
the  leaf  is  limp  and  the  stem  supple  more  than  half  way 
its  length,  it  is  in  a  safe  condition,  and  will  not  have  to 
be  reordered  before  it  is  taken  to  market.  If  the  to- 
bacco has  too  much  humidity  in  it,  or,  as  the  expression 
is,  "too  high  in  case,"  it  will  funk  when  the  weather 
becomes  warm.  In  such  a  condition,  it  is  too  high 
either  to  prize  at  home  or  to  take  loose  to  market,  unless 
it  be  to  a  stemmery,  where  tobacco  high  in  case  is  re- 


l^m 


iL 


'W^ 


FIG.  95.     CARRYING  TOBACCO  TO  MARKET. 
Primitive  method  still  in  use  in  North  Carolina,  Tennessee  and  Kentucky. 

quired.  It  is  the  safest  plan,  therefore,  to  have  the 
order  precisely  right,  so  that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
hang  it  up  a  second  time. 

After  the  tobacco  has  been  taken  down,  stripping 
begins.  First  of  all,  the  leaves  on  each  plant  are  as- 
sorted by  separating  the  various  colors  and  qualities, 
and  afterwards  arranging  them  into  various  grades.  In 
the  same  crop  there  are  often  many  kinds,  as  bright  and 
dark,  heavy  and  light,  long  and  short,  the  result  of  dif- 
ferent plantings,  inequality  in  the  fertility  of  the  soils, 
and  of  various  exposures  of  the  land.  It  will  save  much 


320  TOBACCO    LEAF. 

trouble  if,  in  housing  the  crop,  the  new-land  tobacco  is 
kept  separate  from  that  grown  on  old  land,  the  ripe 
from  the  green,  and  the  long  from  the  short.  These 
several  classes  may  be  put  each  in  a  different  part  of  the 
same  barn. 

Upon  the  same  plant  there  are  usually  two  or  more 
ground  leaves,  bespattered  with  dirt,  one  or  more  worm- 
eaten  leaves,  and  several  perfect  leaves.  Sometimes 
there  are  also  leaves  blistered  with  red  spots,  or  white 
specks,  leaves  also  that  are  bruised  and  sunburned,  or 
house  burned.  The  worst  leaves, — the  sunburned,  the 
dirty,  those  most  badly  worm-eaten, —  are  first  picked 
from  the  stalk  and  tied  in  bundles  of  eight  or  more 
leaves.  This  is  the  lowest  grade  and  is  called  "Lugs." 
The  leaves  that  are  slightly  worm-eaten  or  injured,  the 
perfect  leaves  if  sunburned  or  house  burned,  make  a 
grade  called  "Low  leaf,"  or  "Seconds."  These  are 
usually  tied  in  bundles  of  five  or  six  leaves.  The 
remaining  leaves  on  the  stalk  are  termed  "Good." 
There  are  various  sub-grades  of  good ;  for  instance, 
"Medium,"  which  may  be  short,  or  poor,  or  of  bad 
color;  "Good  leaf,"  which  may  be  long  and  poor,  or 
short  and  rich,  or  it  may  be  of  good  color  without  being 
either  long  or  rich;  "Fine  leaf,"  which  has  three  or 
more  desirable  qualities,  but  is  deficient  in  some  other 
qualities.  Fine  leaf  may  be  long,  rich,  fine  fiber  and 
gummy,  but  have  a  bad  color,  or  lack  uniformity  in 
size.  "Selections"  constitute  the  highest  grade  in  the 
heavy  tobacco  market.  These  combine  every  desirable 
quality  in  the  shipping  leaf,  as  length,  richness,  fatness, 
good  color,  elasticity,  small  stem  and  fiber,  silkiness, 
strength  and  toughness,  with  uniformity  of  size. 

The  best  rule  to  observe  for  assorting  tobacco  is 
not  to  mismate  the  leaves  in  a  bundle,  and  not  to 
mismate  the  bundles  in  a  bulk  or  hogshead.  Long 
and  short  leaves,  rich  and  poor,  bright  and  dark, 


HEAVY   SHIPPING  TOBACCO.  321 

bruised  or  worm-eaten  and  perfect  leaves  should  not  be 
put  together. 

Assorting  and  Prizing  Tobacco, — The  most  careful 
hands  only  should  be  allowed  to  assort  tobacco.  This 
work  requires  undivided  attention,  good  sight  and  cor- 
rect judgment  as  to  quality.  If,  through  inattention, 
a  few  bad  leaves  are  put  with  the  good,  it  may  depre- 
ciate the  value  of  all  the  tobacco  in  a  hogshead  if,  by 
chance,  these  bad  leaves  should  appear  in  the  sample 
drawn.  Short  leaves  appearing  in  a  sample  of  long 
tobacco,  or  bright  leaves  in  a  sample  of  dark  tobacco,  or 
vice  versa,  or  rich  leaves  with  poor  leaves,  or  perfect 
leaves  with  those  broken  or  worm-eaten,  all  violate  the 
laws  of  classification  and  injure  the  sale  of  the  product. 

All  leaves  of  uniform  color,  twenty-six  inches  in 
length  and  over,  should  be  tied  in  bundles  of  not  more 
than  five  leaves.  Such  tobacco  suits  the  African  mar- 
ket. It  is  also  a  first-class  "shipper,"  and  is  sought 
for  by  the  stemmer  for  making  the  highest  grades  of 
strips  for  the  English  market.  If  of  uniform  color  and 
broad  leaf,  the  buyer  of  wrappers  will  want  it  also.  All 
this  competition  would  be  lost  if  improperly  assorted. 
Nor  should  the  most  desirable  grades  be  prized  (that  is, 
pressed  into  the  hogsheads)  too  hard,  for  the  stemmers 
and  buyers  of  wrappers  want  tobacco  to  open  freely  and 
not  be  caked  or  bruised  by  hard  prizing. 

The  tobacco  is  partially  stripped  in  assorting,  for  to 
strip  tobacco  is  simply  to  pull  the  leaves  from  the  stalk 
and  tie  them  in  bundles.  The  size  of  the  bundles  is  an 
important  matter.  If  the  tobacco  is  intended  for  a 
stemmer,  and  is  to  be  delivered  loose  in  wagons,  it  may 
be  tied  in  bundles  as  large  as  the  arm,  care  being  taken 
to  keep  the  different  grades  separate.  But  if  the 
tobacco  is  to  be  prized  in  hogsheads  and  after  inspection 
;o  be  sold  by  sample ;  or  if  it  is  to  be  sold  to  a  buyer 
who  intends  to  prize  and  sell  it  by  inspection,  then  all 
21 


322  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

the  good  grades  must  be  tied  in  bundles  containing  only 
five  or  six  leaves.  Great  neatness  should  be  observed  in 
tying  the  bundles.  The  tie  leaf  should  be  small.  This 
is  taken  in  the  right  hand  and  smoothed  out  at  the  tail 
end,  doubled  so  that  the  inside  surface  of  the  leaf  forms 
the  outside  of  the  wrapper.  A  narrow  band  is  made  of 
the  leaf,  not  more  than  one  inch  in  width.  The  band, 
with  the  stem  downward,  is  wrapped  tightly  twice 
around  the  butts  of  the  stems,  and  then  the  tie  is  tucked 
between  the  leaves.  This  makes  the  head  an  inch  long. 
It  differs  from  the  tie  of  the  seedleaf  tobacco.  The 
latter  is  tied,  with  the  butt  of  the  stem  an  inch  or  more 
below  the  end  of  the  bundle.  As  each  bundle  is  tied,  it 
should  be  run  through  the  hands,  well  straightened  and 
compressed  and  laid  carefully  in  piles. 

During  the  prevalence  of  dry  winds  or  cold  weather, 
the  exposed  portion  of  tobacco,  even  when  in  bulk, 
becomes  so  dry  that  it  may  not  be  handled  without 
doing  it  great  injury.  To  prevent  this,  blankets,  or 
straw,  or  a  wagon  sheet,  should  be  put  all  around  the 
bulk.  This  covering,  kept  damp,  will  prevent  the 
exposed  leaves,  or  parts  of  leaves,  from  drying. 

By  providing  a  close  room  heated  by  a  stove,  with 
a  vessel  of  water  on  top,  stripping  may  be  carried  on 
during  very  severe  cold  weather.  Otherwise  the  tobacco 
will  become  very  dry  and  harsh  and  will  be  damaged  by 
breaking  or  crumbling. 

However  good  the  order  of  the  tobacco  when  hang- 
ing up  may  apparently  be  in  cold  weather,  it  should  not 
be  taken  down  from  the  tier  poles,  for  if  a  warm  spell  of 
weather  should  supervene,  it  is  almost  certain  to  become 
soured  or  "funked."  Much  tobacco  is  damaged  beyond 
remedy  by  not  observing  this  caution.  Many  planters, 
by  taking  their  product  to  market  in  a  condition  that  it 
will  not  pass  the  ordeal  of  the  spring  fermentation,  lose 
all  their  profits.  Those  who  buy  it  in  this  condition 


HEAVY   SHIPPING   TOBACCO.  323 

are  compelled  to  rehandle  it.  More  money  is  made  by 
properly  assorting,  handling  and  "ordering"  the  to- 
bacco crop  than  by  growing  it.  When  the  crop  is 
hurried  to  market  in  a  condition  that  it  will  not  keep, 
the  rehandlers  of  tobacco  and  the  local  manufacturers 
are  the  only  competitors  for  it.  The  foreign  buyers  are 
excluded  by  its  unsafe  condition. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  that  it  is  necessary  to  bulk 
the  tobacco  before  it  can  be  stripped.  Many  successful 
managers  of  tobacco  prefer  to  take  it  down  from  the 
tier  poles  only  as  it  is  required  for  stripping.  The 
leaves  are  much  more  readily  examined  by  this  method, 
for  they  are  not  pressed  together  as  they  are  after  lying  in 
bulk.  Much  time  is,  therefore,  saved  in  assorting.  The 
chief  advantages  in  having  it  in  bulk  are :  1.  That 
it  is  always  in  condition  to  be  handled,  and  in  bad 
weather  the  time  may  be  utilized  in  stripping,  while  the 
tobacco  if  hanging  up  would  be  dry.  2.  If  taken 
down  in  the  right  condition  or  order,  it  need  not  be 
rehung  on  the  sticks  and  tier  poles  after  it  is  stripped. 
3.  It  is  less  liable  to  be  weather-beaten,  or  broken  by 
winds  that  sometimes  find  entrance  to  the  barns. 
Tobacco  is.  also  injured  by  frequent  alternations  of  dry- 
ness  and  humidity,  and  these  changes  cannot  take  place 
when  in  bulk. 

"  Ordering"  Heavy  Shipping  Leaf. — Should  it  hap- 
pen that  the  tobacco,  when  stripped,  is  too  high  in  case 
for  prizing,  it  must  be  rehung  on  the  sticks.  It  often 
occurs  that  the  leafy  part  is  in  right  order,  but  the  stem 
is  too  damp,  or  the  reverse  may  happen,  that  the  stem 
is  in  right  condition,  but  the  leafy  part  is  either  too  dry 
or  too  damp.  The  leafy  part  should  be  pliant,  but  not 
sufficiently  so  to  show  translucent  spots  when  pressed 
between  the  finger  and  thumb.  The  stems  should  be 
pliant,  but  not  limp,  and  they  should  break  a  few  inches 
below  the  head  when  the  bundle  is  bent  at  right  angles. 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


PIG.  96.     A  TYPICAL  NEGRO  WAREHOUSE   HELPER. 

"I'se  Jeems  Johnson,  what '  breaks'  tobacco  in  Carr  &  Go's  warehouse,  I  is,' 


HEAVY  SHIPPING  TOBACCO.  325 

Even  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  reorder  tobacco,  it 
is  not  expedient  to  attempt  to  do  so  during  the  winter 
months.  And  it  is  best  not  to  hang  it  on  the  tier  poles 
until  spring  approaches,  for  during  the  winter  the 
snows  are  apt  to  beat  in  upon  it.  The  winds  injure  it, 
and  if  the  weather  becomes  very  moist,  the  heads  fall  to 
one  side  and  get  into  a  crooked  condition,  not  easily 
straightened.  When  stripped  too  high,  let  16  or  18 
bundles  be  put  on  a  stick,  and  "shingle"  the  sticks, 
filled  with  tobacco,  on  an  elevated  platform,  making 
"coops"  four  or  five  feet  high.  The  sticks  give  venti- 
lation to  the  interior  of  the  pile,  and  lessen  the  danger 
to  be  apprehended  from  funking,  even  should  warm 
weather  ensue. 

When  the  drying  winds  of  spring  come,  the  sticks 
should  be  elevated  to  the  tier  poles  so  the  tobacco  may 
be  "dried  out."  The  first  warm  rain  that  comes  will 
put  it  in  suitable  condition  to  take  down  again.  A 
careful  watch  should  be  kept  that  it  does  not  get  too 
high  in  case.  It  should  be  "struck"  down  just  before 
it  appears  to  be  sufficiently  high  in  case,  for  the  growing 
humidity  continues  a  while,  even  after  it  is  taken  down. 
Some  of  the  best  "ordering"  seasons  come  without  a 
drop  of  rain.  A  warm,  South  wind  surcharged  with 
moisture  will  do  the  work  of  ordering  much  more 
uniformly  than  a  rain.  A  "  coming  season  "  only  should 
be  utilized,  that  is  to  say,  when  the  tobacco  goes  from  a 
dry  to  a  humid  condition.  A  "going  out  season  "is 
when  it  has  been  too  high  in  case  and  drying  winds 
bring  it  seemingly  to  the  proper  order  or  condition.  If 
taken  down  in  a  "going  out  season"  it  will  be  found 
that  the  stems  are  too  moist  for  the  leaf,  and  there  will 
be  no  uniformity  in  the  order. 

When  the  tobacco  is  rightly  ordered  after  it  is 
stripped,  it  must  be  put  in  a  bulk  preparatory  to  prizing 
and  to  preserve  its  right  order  or  condition.  A  plat- 


326  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

form,  four  and  one-half  feet  wide  and  as  long  as  may  be 
necessary  to  hold  the  tobacco  to  be  bulked,  is  made  a 
foot,  or  more,  above  the  surface  of  the  ground,  unless 
the  stripping  room  has  a  plank  floor,  which  will  answer 
for  a  platform.  One  man  gets  on  the  platform  and  one 
or  two  bundles  at  a  time  are  handed  to  him,  after  being 
thoroughly  straightened  and  squeezed.  A  course  is  ran 
the  entire  length  of  the  platform  with  the  heads  coin- 
ciding with  its  outer  edge.  Another  is  similarly  run  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  platform.  Then  two  courses  are 
run  between  these,  the  heads  of  the  bundles  resting 
midway  the  first  course,  and  the  tails  overlapping  the 
center  line  of  the  bulk.  These  four  courses  form  one 
layer,  and  these  layers  are  repeated  until  all  the  tobacco 
is  put  in  bulk.  In  laying  down  the  bundles,  the  man 
who  bulks  gets  on  his  knees  and  packs  before  him,  lay- 
ing the  bundles  flat  and  drawing  them  closely  together. 
In  bulking  the  heavy-shipping  tobacco,  the  leaves  are 
never  permitted  to  flare  out  fanlike,  but  the  bundles  are 
kept  as  nearly  as  possible  in  a  cylindrical  form.  When 
the  bulk  is  finished,  it  is  covered  with  planks,  or  tobacco 
sticks,  laid  evenly  over  the  top  and  heavily  weighted 
with  logs  or  rocks.  In  two  or  three  weeks  the  tobacco 
will  smell  as  sweet  as  a  rose  and  is  ready  to  be  put  in  the 
hogshead. 

The  hogsheads  for  shipping  tobacco  vary  in  sizes, 
but  the  most  approved  sizes  are  56  inches  high  and  42 
inches  in  diameter  at  the  head,  or  54  inches  high  and 
38  to  44  inches  in  diameter.  In  some  districts  the  hogs- 
heads are  made  60  inches  high,  or  even  72  inches  high 
by  50  inches  in  diameter,  but  these  sizes  are  not  popular 
with  buyers. 

The  casks  are  usually  made  of  white  oak  staves 
rived  and  drawn,  but  sometimes  they  are  sawed.  Hoops 
for  banding  the  casks  are  made  of  the  sap  part,  with  a 
little  of  the  heart  of  a  young,  white  oak  tree,  though 


HEAVY   SHIPPING   TOBACCO.  327 

small  hickory  poles  divided  in  halves  are  frequently  used 
for  the  same  purpose.  In  Virginia  and  North  Carolina, 
staves  are  often  made  by  sawing  cuts  of  the  old  field 
pines  into  the  proper  dimensions ;  these  make  very 
cheap  staves,  but  they  will  not  bear  rough  usage.  In 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  hogsheads  are  made  of  hived 
oak  staves,  or  sweet  oak,  or  of  any  other  tough,  hard 
wood. 

There  are  several  ways  of  packing  tobacco  in  hogs- 
heads. One  is  to  run  two  courses  across  the  bottom  of 
the  hogshead,  the  heads  of  the  central  bundles  in  the 
course  being  about  eight  inches  from  the  staves,  and  the 
distance  of  the  heads  from  the  staves  decreases  each  way 
in  the  course  until  they  come  in  contact  with  the  staves. 
Two  more  courses  are  run  at  right  angles  to  the  first 
two,  and  this  is  continued  until  the  hogshead  is  filled, 
the  pressure  of  the  screw,  or  prize,  being  put  on  at 
intervals.  This  is  called  the  "square  pack,"  as  shown 
in  Fig.  93.  .  Another  way  is  to  run  two  courses,  as  in  the 
square  pack,  and  then  two  more  courses,  the  bundles 
lying  in  the  same  directions,  but  with  the  heads 
jammed  against  the  staves  of  the  hogshead.  In  the 
leading  heavy-shipping  districts  from  1400  to  1800 
pounds  of  the  best  grades  are  put  in  a  hogshead,  aver- 
aging about  1600  pounds,  and  from  1800  to  2200  pounds 
of  lugs,  though  the  weights  vary  from  1000  pounds  for 
fancy  to  2500  pounds  for  black  shippers  or  balers. 

NEGRO    LABOR.* 

The  Laborers  Chiefly  Employed  in  the  heavy-ship- 
ping-tobacco districts  are  negroes,  who  are  exceedingly 
efficient  in  the  work  of  cultivating,  worming,  suckering, 
housing  and  preparing  the  crop  for  market.  Trained 

*  It  may  be  well  to  state  that  Col.  Killebrew,  the  writer  of  this 
article,  was  an  extensive  slave  owner  before  the  war,  and  since  then 
has  been  a  large  employer  of  negro  labor  on  his  plantations. 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


If 

>  * 


HEAVY  SHIPPING  TOBACCO.  329 

through  successive  generations  in  the  tobacco  fields  and 
directed  by  highly  intelligent  managers,  the  negroes  in 
the  tobacco-growing  districts  of  Kentucky,  Virginia  and 
Tennessee  take  naturally  to  the  work  and  seem  to 
prefer  it  to  any  other.  They  are  diligent,  careful, 
patient  and  faithful,  and  yield  a  ready  and  cheerful 
obedience  to  their  employers.  Their  physical  vigor 
gives  them  the  strength  to  endure  and  perform  the 
severe  labor  required  in  transplanting  and  housing  the 
crop.  Many  of  them  become  expert  curers,  assorters 
and  packers  of  tobacco.  They  are  peculiarly  fitted  to 
withstand  the  climate  of  the  Southern  states.  They  are 
scarcely  affected  in  health  by  the  malarial  districts. 
The  burning  heat  of  a  summer's  sun  only  awakens  in 
them  a  higher  sense  of  enjoyment.  They  are  children 
of  the  sun,  and  are  as  much  distressed  by  extreme  cold 
as  the  Northern  laborers  are  by  extreme  heat. 

They  are  not  only  preferred  by  the  planters,  but  the 
warehousemen  find  them  most  desirable  in  the  work  of 
stripping  the  casks  from  the  tobacco,  and  preparing  it 
for  sale.  Their  cheerful  faces  are  seen  and  their  merry 
laughter  is  heard  in  every  warehouse  of  the  South, 
where  they  are  employed  in  rolling  the  heavy  casks  in  and 
out,  applying  the  break  lever  for  the  inspectors,  reprizing 
the  loose  tobacco  in  the  cask  and  doing  all  other  heavy 
manual  work.  They  are  always  good  humored,  good 
natured,  obliging  and  respectful  to  white  people,  though 
fond  of  guying  each  other  in  a  friendly  spirit. 

The  negro  rarely  seeks  a  higher  aim  in  life  than  a 
modest  living.  His  earnings  are  -spent  with  a  lavish 
hand,  and  however  large  his  wages  he  rarely  makes  any 
provision  for  old  age.  He  lives  for  the  present, 
happy,  thoughtless,  contented.  His  emotional  nature 
is  extreme  and  hence  he  enjoys  above  all  things  the 
excitement  of  a  "big  meeting,"  a  dance,  or  a  horse  race. 
Social  by  nature,  he  will  spend  every  moment  of  leisure 


330  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

with  his  companions.  He  is  not  given  to  seclusion,  or 
to  though tfulness.  He  is  moved  by  impulse  rather  than 
by  reason.  This  social  instinct  makes  him  a  discon- 
tented laborer  when  working  alone,  and  he  will  take 
less  wages  where  he  can  mingle  with  a  large  number  of 
his  own  race.  The  negro  is  liberal  to  a  fault.  He  will 
often  work  a  whole  week  and  give  his  earnings  to  a 
church  festival  on  Saturday  night,  or  hire  a  costly 
equipage  for  a  drive  with  his  wife  and  children,  or  with 
his  sweetheart,  on  Sunday.  He  will  wear  ragged,  dirty 
clothes  six  days  in  the  week  and  a  costly  tailor-made 
suit  when  he  goes  to  church,  or  to  a  dance,  or  to  spend 
a  holiday.  Yet,  notwithstanding  this  want  of  frugality, 
it  must  be  said  to  the  credit  of  the  negro  that  he  very 
seldom  leads  an  idle  or  vagrant  life,  and  is  rarely  dissi- 
pated. His  race  indulges  in  no  anarchistic  or  social- 
istic ideas.  The  negro  never  questions  the  right  of 
another  to  take  his  place  when  he  has  been  discharged, 
or  when  he  voluntarily  surrenders  it.  The  idea  of  a 
boycott  is  repugnant  to  his  nature.  In  many  respects 
he  is  eminently  conservative  and  his  greatest  weakness  is 
a  lack  of  firmness.  Oftentimes  he  is  tempted  to  do 
what  a  firmer  judgment  would  condemn. 

The  negro  farm  laborers  of  the  South  are  probably 
the  most  independent  laborers  in  the  United  States. 
When  one  is  discharged,  unless  for  some  heinous  crime, 
he  finds  no  difficulty  in  securing  employment  at  once  on 
some  neighboring  farm.  And  yet  it  cannot  be  said  that 
the  negro  laborer  is  wanting  in  constancy.  When  he  is 
treated  fairly  and  honestly  by  his  employer  and  paid 
promptly,  he  is  averse  to  a  change.  Possibly  in  this 
particular  the  negro  excels  every  other  nationality,  or 
race,  as  a  laborer.  Earely  does  he  cherish  ill'  will, 
much  less  revenge,  towards  his  former  employer.  He 
entertains  a  warm  feeling  for  a  generous  man,  but 
cordially  despises  a  parsimonious  one.  Generosity  in 


HEAVY   SHIPPING  TOBACCO.  331 

the  employer  oftentimes  goes  further  with  him  than 
justice. 

It  is  often  alleged  by  Northern  writers  and  statis- 
ticians that  the  wages  paid  Southern  laborers  are  much 
less  than  are  paid  for  the  same  class  in  the  North.  This 
is  more  apparent  than  real.  A  Northern  farm  laborer, 
with  a  family,  has  generally  to  pay  rent  for  his  house 
and  garden,  purchase  his  supply  of  fuel  and  pay  for  the 
pasturage  of  any  stock  that  he  may  own.  All  this  is 
given  freely  to  the  negro  farm  laborers  of  the  South  and 
they  are  employed  throughout  the  whole  twelve  months. 
In  the  stemming  factories  many  negro  women  are 
employed  in  stemming  tobacco.  They  easily  earn  from 
50  cents  to  $1.50  per  day. 

The  wages  of  a  Northern  man  may  be  $20  to  $25 
per  month,  but  much  of  this  will  be  absorbed  in  buying 
what  the  Southern  farm  laborer  has  given  him,  and  it 
rarely  happens  that  he  is  employed  for  the  whole  year 
at  the  wages  named.  The  Southern  laborer  has  more 
money  to  spend  for  his  pleasures  and  is  rarely  oppressed 
with  debt.  In  the  Northwestern  States,  with  the 
bleak,  cheerless  climate  of  that  region,  the  wages  of  $30 
per  month  to  a  laborer  will  not  provide  near  as  many  of 
the  comforts  of  life  as  one-half  this  amount  paid  to  a 
Southern  laborer.  .The  winters  of  the  Northwest  are 
long  and  dreary;  fuel  is  expensive  and  necessary  to 
comfort  for  at  least  six  months  in  the  year.  The  char- 
acter of  the  clothing  also,  suitable  to  such  a  climato, 
makes  it  much  more  costly  than  that  required  by  the 
laborer  of  the  South. 

The  great  and  leading  difference  between  the  white 
labor  of  the  North  and  the  colored  labor  of  the  South  is 
this :  The  first  has  ambitions,  calculates  possibilities, 
and  looks  forward  to  the  future ;  the  latter  enjoys  the 
present,  is  indifferent  about  what  is  to  come,  and  is 
utterly  incapable  of  that  self-denial  which  makes  thrift 


332  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

and  prosperity  possible.  The  negro  laborer  never 
crosses  a  stream  until  he  reaches  it.  He  is,  therefore, 
contented  and  happy, — jolly  and  hilarious  oftentimes, 
when,  under  precisely  similar  conditions  and  circum- 
stances, the  white  laborer  will  worry  and  give  way  to 
irritability,  or  senseless  passion.  The  colored  laborer 
enjoys  more  happiness  and  contentment ;  the  white 
laborer  more  thrift  and  prosperity.  The  one  is  pro- 
gressive, the  other  conservative.  Great  prosperity 
springs  from  the  exertions  of  the  one ;  old  customs  are 
perpetuated  by  the  other  and  scarcely  any  progress  is 
made  by  him  in  the  development  of  accumulated  wealth. 
The  negroes  occupy  a  unique,  but  useful  place,  in  the 
social  structure  of  the  United  States.  They  never 
indulge  in  strikes,  but  they  always  have  profitable  em- 
ployment, and  their  employers  become  attached  to  them 
and  they  to  their  employers.  There  is  less  suffering 
and  more  contentment  among  them  than  among  any 
other  laborers  in  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    WHITE    BURLEYf&ND    MANUFACTURING    TOBACCO. 

While  experiments  in  growing  White  Burley  have 
been  made  in  all  the  tobacco-growing  States  in  the 
South  and  several  in  the  North,  the  district  where  the 
quality  reaches  its  greatest  excellence  has  greatly 
increased  its  boundaries  during  the  past  15  years.  This 
entire  district  lies  on  both  sides  of  the  Ohio  river.  The 
Kentucky  White  Bnrley  district  embraces  an  area  of  a 
little  over  10,000  square  miles,  and  includes  34  counties, 
or  parts  of  counties,  all  of  which  adjoin,  except  two, 
Breatliitt  and  Bell,  forming  an  irregular  figure  bounded 
by  the  Ohio  river  on  the  North  and  on  the  other  sides 
by  lines  drawn  from  Louisville,  Ky.,  to  Danville,  and 
from  Danville  to  Catlettsburg.  Bell  and  Breathitt 
together  only  produced  a  little  over  15,000  pounds  of 
tobacco  in  1896,  and  scarcely  deserve  to  be  mentioned. 

The  largest  producing  counties,  taken  in  the  order 
of  their  production  as  reported  by  the  county  assessors, 
in  1894,  are  Mason  with  over  5,000,000  pounds;  Shelby, 
Henry,  Woodford  and  Carroll  each  between  4,000,000 
and  5,000,01*0  pounds.  The  following  counties  between 
3,000,000  and  4,000,000  pounds,— Harrison,  Hart,. 
Grant,  Scott,  Nicholas,  Fleming,  Pendleton,  Bracken 
and  Fayette.  Boone  and  Trimble  produced  each 
between  2,000,000  and  3,000,000  pounds.  The  coun- 
ties of  Clark,  Bourbon,  Owen,  Franklin  and  Gallatin 
produced  over  1,500,000  pounds  each,  and  the  counties 
of  Bath,  Jessamine,  Carter,  Mercer  and  Robertson  pro- 
duced over  1,000,000  each. 

333 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


WHITE   BURLEY  TOBACCO.  335 

The  Ohio  White  Burley  district  lies  just  north  of 
fche  Ohio  river  and  immediately  opposite  the  White 
Burley  district  of  Kentucky.  It  embraces  the  coun- 
ties of  Brown,  Adams,  Clermont,  Butler,  Scioto, 
Hamilton,  Highland,  Licking  and  Lawrence.  All 
these  counties  lie  on  the  Ohio  river,  except  Butler, 
Highland  and  Licking.  Brown  produced  in  1894 
over  3,700,000  pounds;  Adams  and  Clermont  each 
over  2,000,000.  None  of  the  other  counties  produced 
as  much  as  500,000  pounds.  These  figures  are  taken 
from  the  assessors'  returns  to  the  Secretary  of  State 
for  1894. 

If  the  figures  reported  by  the  assessors  are  correct, 
they  indicate  a  considerable  falling  off  in  the  production 
of  the  White  Burley  crop  in  Ohio  in  1894,  as  compared 
with  the  production  in  1889.  The  counties  of  Brown, 
Adams  and  Clermont  reported  for  that  year  14,877,959 
pounds,  but  in  1894  only  8,737,639  pounds,  showing  a 
falling  off  of  41  per  cent.  A  comparison  of  five  of  the 
counties  in  Kentucky  that  have  the  largest  production 
shows  about  an  equal  amount  for  both  years.  Mason, 
Shelby,  Henry,  Woodford  and  Carroll  show  a  production, 
both  in  1889  and  1894,  of  over  23,000,000  pounds  in  the 
aggregate. 

The  Soils  of  the  White  Burley  District  are  among 
the  most  fertile  in  the  United  States,  and  in  this  respect 
occupy  a  position  in  relation  to  the  growth  of  product 
diametrically  opposite  to  the  character  of  the  soils  best 
fitted  for  the  growth  of  yellow  tobacco.  The  latter 
requires  conparatively  sterile,  sandy  soils,  while  the 
White  Burley  must  have  the  most  fertile,  limestone  soils 
for  its  proper  development.  A  comparison  of  chemical 
elements  of  the  two  typical  soils  will  be  instructive. 
Take  the  analysis  of  the  soil  of  Mason  county,  Ken- 
tucky, where  the  finest  "\Vhite  Burley  tobacco  is  grown, 
and  an  analysis  of  the  soil  of  Granville  county,  North 


336  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

Carolina,  where  the  highest  grade  of  yellow  tobacco  is 
grown,  and  we  find  the  following : 

Mason  Co.,  Ky.   Granville  Co.,  N.  C. 

Organic  and  volatile  matter,  8.462                      1.2050 

Alumina,  4.745                        2.4965 

Oxide  of  iron,  6.240                        0.6275 

Lime,  .836                        0.2330 

Magnesia,  .798                        0.0847 

Manganese,  .146                        0.0417 

Phosphoric  acid,  .231                        0.0379 

Sulphuric  acid,  .084                        0.0140 

Potash,  .558                          0.5045 

Soda,  .160                        0.2892 

Silica,  78.100  93.5035 

The  White  Burley  soil  has  seven  times  as  much 
organic  and  volatile  matter  in  it  as  the  yellow  tobacco 
soil,  twice  as  much  alumina,  ten  times  as  much  oxide  of 
iron,  over  three  and  a  half  times  as  much  lime,  nearly 
ten  times  as  much  magnesia,  three  and  a  half  times  as 
much  manganese,  nearly  seven  times  as  much  phos- 
phoric acid,  six  times  as  much  sulphuric  acid,  and  one- 
tenth  more  of  potash.  The  yellow  tobacco  soil  has 
nearly  twice  as  much  soda,  and  nearly  20  per  cent  more 
sand. 

The  topographical  features  of  the  White  Burley 
district  in  Kentucky  are  greatly  diversified.  High, 
rolling  ridges,  round,  domelike  knobs,  and  sharp  hills, 
with  here  and  there  level  stretches,  are  its  characteristic 
features.  Many  streams  pass  through  the  district,  and 
these  have  carved  out  deep,  winding  valleys  that  are 
three  or  four  hundred  feet  below  the  general  surface  of 
the  country.  The  great  ridge,  known  as  Dry  Eidge, 
which  forms  the  main  axis,  or  backbone,  of  the  region, 
runs  approximately  north  and  south.  Upon  this  the 
Cincinnati  Southern  railroad  was  built.  From  this 
ridge,  many  transverse  and  subordinate  spurs  shoot 
out,  but  they  are  so  often  dissevered  by  deep  hollows,  or 
gorges,  that  the  region  presents  for  the  most  part  a  very 
irregular  series  of  rounded  or  flat  elevations.  The  conn- 


WHITE   BUELEY   TOBACCO.  337 

try,  except  in  the  principal  blue  grass  counties,  is  very 
much  broken,  and  nearly  every  member  of  the  Lower 
Silurian  formation  is  exposed  at  one  or  more  places  in 
the  district.  This  gives  within  limits  a  considerable 
variation  in  the  composition  of  the  soil,  but  all  of  it  is 
made  fertile  by  the  presence  of  the  carbonate  and  phos- 
phate of  lime.  The  principal  tree  growth  on  the  best 
tobacco  soils  is  hickory,  white  oak,  jtulip  tree,  beech, 
walnut,  hackberry,  black  locust  and  ash.  All  this 
growth  indicates  a  very  fruitful  soil.  Where  the  white 
oak  is  the  prevailing  growtfi  the  soil  is  called  "oak 
soil."  The  soils  in  every  part  of  the  district  are  exceed- 
ingly durable,  and  where  apparently  exhausted,  if  they 
are  abandoned  for  a  few  years,  fresh  plant  food  will  be 
supplied  by  the  disintegration  of  the  shaly  beds  and 
the  soft  limestones  that  underlie  them.  Many  of  these 
limestones  contain  such  a  large  percentage  of  phos- 
phoric acid  as  even  to  make  them,  when  pulverized,  val- 
uable as  a  fertilizer. 

The  great  unevenness  of  the  surface  of  the  country 
maket  tillage  difficult.  The  slopes  of  the  hills,  except 
when  kept  in  grass,  soon  become  scarified  with  unsightly 
gullies.  Clean  culture,  such  as  tobacco  requires,  soon 
makes  the  land  unproductive,  not,  as  many  suppose,  by 
the  amount  of  fertilizing  material  extracted  from  the 
soil  by  that  crop,  but  because  of  the  rapidity  and  ease 
with  which  the  soil  is  carried  from  the  hillsides  to  the 
valleys.  However,  the  region  is  fortunate  in  having  a 
subsoil  and  rocky  strata  beneath,  which  hold  in  store  a 
large  amount  of  unexpended  plant  food,  which  is  una- 
vailable until  it  has  been  liberated  by  the  crumbling  of 
these  underclays  and  rocky  beds  through  the  effects  of 
weathering.  Unlike  almost  any  other  region  not 
alluvial,  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is  renewed  by  time,  as 
interest  gathers  upon  a  fixed  capital. 

While   a  few  planters  prefer  the  old   lands,   and 


338  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

especially  the  old  sod  lands  in  the  bluegrass  districts 
because  the  yield  is  much  larger,  the  greater  number  of 
growers  prefer  the  freshly  opened  lands,  where  white 
oak  was  the  original  tree  growth.  The  southern  and 
eastern  sides  of  the  elevations  are  usually  selected  for 
growing  tobacco.  In  such  situations  the  plant  grows 
into  its  greatest  beauty  and  most  useful  qualities,  and 
ripens  more  evenly  and  more  quickly.  Where  the  soil 
is  derived  from  the  highly  calcareous,  sandy,  blue  lime- 


FIG.  99.     WHITE  BURI/EY  ON  SCAFFOLD. 

stones  and  has  been  kept  in  bluegrass  sod  for  many 
years,  an  excellent  manufacturing  leaf  is  grown,  not  so 
silky,  or  so  bright  in  color,  or  so  soft  to  the  touch,  or  so 
lustrous,  or  elastic,  or  high  priced,  as  that  grown  on  the 
fresh  oak  lands,  but  heavier  in  body  and  richer  in 
gummy  matter.  This  old-land  product  is  preferred  for 
manufacturing  plug  and  navy,  but  not  for  making  cut- 
ting tobacco,  as  the  amount  of  gum  present  unfits  it  for 
that  purpose.  The  old-land  product  is  considered, 


WHITE   BURLEY   TOBACCO.  339 

therefore,  a  most  useful  quality  of  tobacco,  and  though 
its  color  is  more  red  than  yellow,  it  has  supplied  a  want 
for  plug  for  which  the  thin,  highly  colored  tobacco 
grown  on  fresh  soil  is  not  at  all  suited.  It  is  an  ideal 
filler  for  plug  tobacco,  having  a  large  absorptive 
capacity,  mild  in  its  effects  upon  the  nervous  system, 
delicate  in  its  flavor,  and  withal  is  very  popular  with 
consumers. 

The  soil  is  the  most  potent  factor  in  the  growth  of 
the  White  Burley,  as  it  is  in  the  growth  of  the  yellow 
tobacco,  or  the  heavy-shipping  leaf.  Take  the  soils  of 
one  of  the  typical  counties,  Owen  for  instance,  and  they 
are  classified  by  the  planters  according  to  their  timber 
growth.  Plot  1  has  a  growth  of  sugar  tree,  beech,  tulip 
tree,  hackberry  and  butternut,  and  is  first-class  bluegrass 
land;  this  soil  makes  the  largest  number  of  pounds 
per  acre,  but  the  product  is  red,  heavy  and  gummy. 
Plot  2  has  a  growth  of  white  oak  and  more  clay  and 
less  sand  in  its  composition ;  the  tobacco  grown  on  it 
is  thin,  bright  and  silky.  Plot  3  resembles  an  alluvial 
soil,  filled  with  organic  matter;  the  timber  growth  is 
ash,  locust,  poplar  and  oak ;  it  grows  a  rough,  heavy 
tobacco  useful,  as  a  general  thing,  only  for  fillers  and  for 
wrappers  in  the  manufacture  of  the  cheaper  grades  of 
plug  tobacco. 

The  White  Burley  soil  in  Ohio  consists  of  modified 
glacial  drift,  and  occupies,  beside  the  Ohio  river  basin, 
the  fringing  spurs,  which  rise  to  a  hight  of  400  to  500 
feet  above  the  Ohio  river  and  run  back  from  the  basin, 
uniting  at  a  greater  or  less  distance  in  a  plateau  country 
deeply  gashed  at  intervals  by  the  tributaries  of  the  Ohio 
and  Miami  rivers.  Many  broad  areas  of  level  land  occur 
on  this  plateau,  so  flat,  indeed,  that  in  times  of  exces- 
sive rains,  they  overflow  and  form  temporary  lakes. 
The  drift,  or  glacial  deposits,  contributes  mainly  to  the 
formation  of  the  soils  of  the  district,  though  there  are 


340  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

some  small  areas  where  the  limestones  of  the  Lower 
Silurian  age  come  to  the  surface  and  yield  their  charac- 
teristic soil.  The  drift  is  composed  largely  of  fertile 
clays,  in  which  limestone  gravel  is  imbedded.  Four 
kinds,  or  varieties,  of  soil  are  found  in  this  district : 
1.  The  native  soil  formed  from  the  limestones,  or  bed 
rocks,  of  the  country.  2.  Drift  soil  of  the  uplands. 
3.  Black  soil  of  swampy  or  peaty  areas.  4.  The  alluvial 
soil  of  the  river  and  creek  bottoms.  The  native  soil  is 
found  on  the  sloping  hills  that  run  down  to  the  stream 
beds.  This  soil  is  dark,  friable  and  fertile  and  very 
much  resembles  the  bluegrass  soil  of  Kentucky,  and  it 
has  the  same  tree  growth.  '  It  is  preferred  for  tobacco, 
though  it  washes  easily.  Tobacco  is  grown  on  all  the 
other  classes  of  soil  mentioned,  but  the  peaty  and  allu- 
vial soils  make  a  coarse,  rough  article. 

Summarizing  the  quality  of  the  product  as  affected 
by  the  variety  of  soils  and  different  exposures  in  the 
White  Burley  districts  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  we  find 
that: 

1.  Tobacco  grown  upon  new  lands,  and  especially 
new  oak  lands,  is  thin,  light,  bright  golden  in  color, 
gumless  and    rattles,  when   handled,  like  dry  fodder. 
This  is  the  very  best  cutting  leaf. 

2.  On  the  same  land  the  second  year  the  product 
will  be  heavier,  a  cherry  red  in  color,  with  more  body, 
but  with  little  gum.     This  is  suitable  both  for  cutters 
and  for  the  manufacture  of  plug. 

3.  Old  sod  land  makes  a  product  of  better  body,  a 
good  absorbent,  less  light  in  color,  more  useful  as  a  plug 
filler,  with  a  considerable  gain  in  the  number  of  pounds 
produced  on  a  given  area. 

4.  Alluvial   soils  produce  tobacco  dark  in  color, 
rough  in  feel,  bony  and  lacking  in  softness,  and  it  has  a 
small  absorptive  capacity. 

As  to  exposures,  other  things  being  equal,  the  east- 


WHITE   BURLEY   TOBACCO. 


341 


342  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

ern,  or  southeastern,  is  the  preference,  the  southern 
next,  the  northern  third  and  the  western  last. 

The  White  Burley  tobacco  is  planted  to  some  extent 
in  Virginia,  Tennessee,  Missouri,  Maryland,  West  Vir- 
ginia, Indiana,  Ohio  and  Arkansas,  but  it  usually  fails, 
when  planted  outside  of  the  blue  limestone  soils  of  its 
native  habitat,  to  attain  the  excellence  that  makes  it 
desirable.  The  farmers  of  each  district  often,  after 
fruitless  experiments,  return  to  the  cultivation  of  that 
type  which  has  made  each  district  famous.  Some 
excellent  Burley  tobacco  is  produced  on  the  freestone 
soils  of  West  Virginia,  with  pebbly  subsoils  covered  with 
humus. 

The  central  basin  of  Tennessee,  of  which  Nashville 
is  the  center,  by  reason  of  its  blue  limestone  soils,  which 
have  the  same  geological  and  lithological  character  as 
those  in  the  White  Burley  district  of  Kentucky,  pre- 
sents the  most  promising  field  for  the  extension  of  the 
culture  of  this  most  desirable  product.  Some  is  already 
grown  in  Trousdale,  Wilson,  Smith,  and  a  part  of 
Mason,  in  the  upper  Cumberland  river  tobacco  district, 
in  Tennessee,  and  in  several  of  the  counties  in  the  same 
tobacco  district-in  Kentucky. 

Two  Varieties  of  White  Burley. — There  are  two 
sub-varieties  of  White  Burley  now  grown  in  Kentucky. 
The  old  variety  (Plate  VII,  Page  40)  has  a  pale  green, 
or  greenish-white  color,  and  the  leaves  grow  very  closely 
together  on  the  stalk.  It  is  also  much  ruffled,  that  is, 
the  leaves  at  the  junction  with  the  stalk  have  a  ruffle, 
which  passes  sometimes  entirely  around  the  stalk. 

The  other  sub- variety  (Plate  IX,  Page  48)  is  not  so 
pale  in  color,  but  it  shows  the  white  veins  while  grow- 
ing. The  leaves  are  more  pointed  and  do  not  grow  so 
closely  together  on  the  stalk.  This  sub-variety  is  more 
hardy  and  less  easily  damaged  by  weather  conditions, 
either  in  the  field,  or  after  it  has  been  put  in  the  barn. 


WHITE  BURLEY   TOBACCO.  343 

It  furnishes  more  plug  fillers  also  than  the  old  variety. 
The  new  variety  has  but  little  ruffle,  thus  affording 
fewer  hiding  places  for  the  worms.  It  is  not  so  sensi- 
tive to  the  heat  of  the  sun,  or  to  house  burn.  It  will 
also  cure  with  fewer  green  leaves  or  spots. 

Preparation  of  the  Land. —  In  the  bluegrass  re- 
gions of  Kentucky,  where  the  White  Burley  is  now  very 
extensively  grown,  the  preparation  of  the  land  for  the 
crop  is  begun  in  the  winter,  from  January  to  March. 
Two  methods  of  breaking  are  practiced :  One  with  a 
plow  having  a  "skimmer"  attached  just  in  front  of  the 
subsoiler.  The  "skimmer"  reverses  a  slice  of  sod 
some  ten  inches  wide  and  two  inches  thick,  and 
the  subsoiler  throws  four  or  five  inches  of  soil  on 
top  of  the  reversed  sod.  The  second  way  is  to  turn 
the  sod  under  with  a  two-horse  plow  to  the  depth  of 
eight  inches. 

About  the  middle  of  April,  a  revolving  disc  harrow 
is  run  over  the  land,  cutting  the  sods  to  pieces.  This 
is  followed  by  a  slab  drag,  which  is  made  of  three  or 
four  pieces  of  timber,  fastened  at  intervals  of  a  foot,  or 
more,  with  chains,  so  as  to  be  flexible.  This  slab  drag 
smooths  the  ground  and  pulverizes  all  the  clods.  The 
land  is  then  marked  off,  from  three  feet  eight  inches  to 
three  feet  ten  inches,  one  way  only,  with  an  implement 
made  for  the  purpose,  which  makes  three  marks  at  once. 
These  marks  are  about  three  inches  wide,  and  about  two 
or  three  inches  deep.  They  are  made  with  a  piece  of 
scantling  two  inches  thick,  the  front  being  armed  with 
a  sharpened  piece  of  iron  slightly  flanged  backward. 
The  plants  are  set  on  the  edge  of  these  marks,  at  a  dis- 
tance varying  from  18  to  27  inches,  the  less  distance 
being  used  for  growing  cutting  tobacco.  Hills  are 
seldom  made  in  the  White  Burley  district,  except 
by  a  few  Germans,  who  live  in  Mason  county,  Ken- 
tucky. In  that  county,  about  one-fifth  of  the  area 


344  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

planted  in  tobacco  is  fresh  land,  which  makes  the  very 
best  cutting  tobacco. 

Fertilization  and  Rotation. — It  is  a  very  rare  thing 
for  fertilizers,  or  manure,  to  be  used  anywhere  in  the 
White  Burley  districts.  One  planter  says  he  never  uses 
manure  if  Jhe  "can  possibly  avoid  it,"  for  the  tobacco 
product  is  much  better  when  grown  without  it,  having 
more  elasticity  and  other  desirable  qualities.  Some- 
times, though  rarely,  a  little  manure  is  spread  over  the 
land  before  it  is  harrowed.  Tobacco  stalks  and  trash 
from  the  barns  are  preferred  to  any  other  fertilizer  for 
tobacco,  and  impair  its  qualities  less. 

The  tobacco  crop  is  usually  followed  by  wheat  sown 
in  the  fall,  and  upon  this  timothy  is  sown  immediately, 
and  red  clover  in  the  following  spring.  The  land  is 
allowed  to  remain  in  timothy  and  clover  for  several 
years  before  it  is  planted  again  in  tobacco.  The  timothy 
"eats  out"  the  clover  in  about  two  years,  and  the  blue- 
grass  takes  the  timothy  in  about  four  years.  When  well 
sodded  with  bluegrass,  the  soil  is  again  prepared  for 
another  crop  of  tobacco. 

On  new  land,  two  crops  of  tobacco  are  grown  in 
two  successive  years.  After  the  first  crop  of  tobacco  is 
taken  off,  the  land  is  sown  to  rye,  which  is  allowed  to 
grow  without  pasturing,  until  the  following  April. 
The  rye  is  then  turned  under  with  a  skimmer  and  sub- 
soiler,  or  only  with  a  turning  plow,  like  the  bluegrass 
sod.  After  the  land  has  produced  two  crops  of  tobacco, 
wheat  and  timothy  are  sown  immediately  after  the 
tobacco  is  housed,  and  clover  the  following  spring. 
After  the  expiration  of  three  years,  another  crop  of 
tobacco  is  grown.  After  the  third  crop,  the  rotation  is 
like  that  given  for  old  land. 

Tobacco  plants  are  usually  set  after  a  shower,  but  if 
the  rains  are  tardy,  or  insufficient,  the  plants  are  set  out 
in  the  afternoons  and  watered.  The  Bemis  planter, 


WHITE   BURLEY  TOBACCO.  345 

(Fig.  23)  is  in  common  use  in  the  bluegrass  section,  by 
the  large  planters.  From  one  and  a  half  to  two  acres 
may  be  set  out  in  an  afternoon  with  three  hands — two  to 
drop  plants  and  one  to  drive  the  team.  A  few  days 
after  the  plants  are  set  out,  the  ground  near  them  is 
scraped  with  hoes.  When  the  plant  is  established,  a 
bull-tongue  cultivator  is  run  six  times  in  the  space 
between  the  rows.  Every  week  after  this  the  land  is 
plowed  with  double-shovel  cultivators  until  the  period 
for  topping  approaches.  Some  planters  plow  deep; 
others  shallow,  as  their  judgments  may  determine.  But 
little  difference  is  observed  in  the  product,  whether  the 
plowing  is  shallow  or  deep.  The  work  of  tillage  should 
be  directed  to  keeping  the  crop  clean.  During  this 
period  the  tobacco  is  usually  hoed  twice,  a  little  dirt 
being  drawn  to  the  plants  at  each  hoeing.  There  are  a 
few  small  farmers  who  throw  the  dirt  to  the  plants 
with  a  one-horse  turning  plow,  leaving  a  deep  furrow 
between  the  rows.  This  method  of  cultivating,  how- 
ever, is  almost  abandoned. 

Care  of  the  Growing  Crop. — When  the  first  buttons, 
or  seed  buds,  appear,  the  cultivation  should  cease,  and 
the  work  of  topping  begin.  From  16  to  20  leaves  are 
left  on  each  plant.  White  Burley  is  never  primed 
before  topping,  and  when  it  is  desired  to  grow  a  cutting 
tobacco,  the  plants  are  topped  much  higher  than  when 
a  filler  is  to  be  produced.  High  topping  and  close 
planting  produce  cutters;  low  topping  and  longer  dis- 
tances between  the  plants  make  a  filler  of  good  body 
and  excellent  flavor,  and  wrappers  of  great  strength  of 
fiber.  It  is  best  to  top  just  as  soon  as  there  is  a 
sufficient  number  of  leaves  on  the  stalk.  It  is  better, 
however,  to  let  a  few  plants  bloom,  if,  by  so  doing,  a 
large  proportion  of  the  plants  in  the  field  may  be  topped 
at  the  same  time.  All  plants  in  the  same  field  should 
be  topped  in  the  same  week,  even  though  some  of  the 


346  TOBACCO   LEAF, 

plants  be  topped  to  six  leaves.  This  rule  is  founded 
upon  the  intelligent  experience  of  the  best  planters  in 
the  White  Burley  district.  The  tobacco  should  be 
wormed  at  least  once  a  week  (see  chapter  on  Pests).  If 
the  weather  is  very  wet,  the  tobacco  will  have  to  be 


FIG.  101.     WHITE  BURLEY  PLANT  NOT  PRIMED. 

This  plant  was  grown  at  the  Kentucky  experiment  station,  under  the  same  condi- 
tions as  'the  typical  plant  of  this  variety  shown  in  Plate  IX.  It  was  not  prop- 
erly primed,  so  the  bottom  leaves  rest  nearly  on  the  ground  and  are  small  in 
size.  The  plant  was  four  and  one-fourth  feet  high,  with  a  spread  of  four  feet, 
being  slightly  wilted  when  photographed.  The  top  leaf  was  28  inches  long 
and  10  wide,  iniddle  leaf  35x11  inches.  It  will  be  seen  that  tbe  leaves  are  even 
larger  than  those  in  Plate  IX,  (jiving  a  larger  weight  per  acre,  but  the  amount 
of  unmerchantable  leaf  is  much  larger,  the  quality  usually  not  as  good,  and 
the  tobacco  will  not  sell  as  well  as  when  the  tobacco  is  properly  primed. 

suckered  three  times.      The  suckers   should   never  be 
allowed  to  grow  longer  than  three  inches. 

Harvesting. — From  four  to  five  weeks  after  topping, 
the  tobacco  should  be  fully  ripe.     The  plants  are  then 


WHITE   BURLEY  TOBACCO.  347 

cut  with  a  butcher  knife,  or  a  tobacco  cutter,  described 
in  the  previous  chapter.  Each  person  cutting  takes 
three  rows,  splits  the  stalk  down  below  the  middle  and 
straddles  the  plants,  as  they  are  cut,  over  a  stick  stuck 
up  in  the  middle  row,  on  the  hill  of  the  last  plant  cut 
in  that  row.  From  five  to  six  plants  are  put  on  each 
stick,  according  to  the  size  of  the  plants.  In  this  way 
the  tobacco  is  cut  and  housed  without  coming  in  contact 
with  the  dirt.  The  sticks  are  four  and  one-third  feet 
in  length,  and  when  filled  with  tobacco  are  taken 
directly  to  the  curing  houses,  or  barns,  and  hung  12 
inches  apart  on  the  tier  poles.  Very  many  planters 
put  the  tobacco  on  scaffolds  in  the  field,  where  it 
remains  for  three  or  four  days,  and  it  is  then  taken  to 
the  barns.  Trestles,  five  feet  high  and  very  much  like 
those  used  by  plasterers  and  carpenters,  are  employed  to 
hold  up  the  tier  poles  of  the  scaffold  (Fig.  99).  The 
tobacco,  when  taken  from  the  scaffold,  may  be  arranged 
on  the  tier  poles  in  the  barns  as  closely  as  eight  inches. 
By  scaffolding,  one-third  of  the  capacity  of  the  barn 
may  be  saved.  The  danger  in  scaffolding  is  that  the 
tobacco  may  be  caught  in  a  rain.  About  one-third  of 
the  tobacco  planters  in  the  district  now  scaffold  their 
tobacco  before  taking  it  to  the  barns. 

The  leaf,  after  being  properly  wilted  on  the  stick, 
or  scaffold,  is  carried  to  the  barn  on  a  frame,  made  just 
wide  enough  to  take  the  sticks  conveniently,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  100. 

Assorting  and  Stuffing. — When  fully  cured,  the 
tobacco  is  assorted  usually  into  six  grades  as  follows  : 
1.  Flyings,  or  sand  leaves,  called  also  spod,  which  con- 
stitute about  10  per  cent  of  the  crop.  2.  Trash,  15  per 
cent.  3.  Lugs,  15  per  cent.  4.  Bright  leaf,  30  per 
cent.  5.  Red  leaf,  25  per  cent.  6.  Tips,  or  the  short 
top  and  often  greenish  leaves,  making  up  the  remaining 
5  per  cent. 


34:8  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

The  flyings  and  sand  leaves  are  used  mainly  for 
making  smokers ;  the  trash  and  lugs  in  a  tine  crop  are 
used  for  cutters ;  the  bright  leaf  is  used  for  wrappers, 
or  fine  cutters ;  the  red  leaf  for  plug  fillers,  and  the 
tips  for  making  a  low  grade  of  plug  for  exportation. 

All  grades  are  tied  in  bundles  of  from  10  to  20 
leaves,  the  smaller  number  of  leaves  to  the  bundle  being 
used  in  the  better  grades.  A  tie  an  inch  in  diameter  is 
a  better  standard  and  one  preferred  by  the  dealers. 

Packing  for  Market.—  When  White  Burley  has  been 
assorted  and  stripped  in  the  fall,  each  grade  is  put  in  a 
separate  bulk.  This  is  prized  (pressed  into  bogheads) 
at  once  and  is  known  as  the  "winter  prizing." 

For  "summer  prizing"  the  tobacco  is  allowed  to 
remain  in  bulk  until  the  heated  season  approaches.  It 
is  then  hung  up  in  the  barn  (Fig.  102)  for  the  June 
sweat,  and  reordered,  so  that  the  stems  will  crack  when 
bent  to  the  tips  of  the  leaves.  Some  planters,  instead 
of  bulking  the  tobacco  down  after  stripping,  put  the 
bundles  on  sticks  and  shingle  it  on  a  plank  floor  until 
May,  and  then  hang  it  up  in  the  barn  to  be  properly 
sweated  and  ordered.  When  prized  in  casks  weighing 
1100  pounds  for  the  fine  grades,  and  1200  to  1400 
pounds  for  the  inferior  grades  in  good  keeping  con- 
dition after  the  sweat,  it  will  remain  sweet  for  years. 

The  largest  portion  of  the  crop  goes  to  Louisville, 
Cincinnati  and  Richmond,  Virginia,  and  is  prized  in 
hogsheads  48  inches  in  diameter  and  60  inches  high, 
made  generally  of  poplar  staves  five-eighths  of  an  inch 
thick.  It  should  always  be  remembered  by  the  grower 
of  tobacco,  and  especially  of  the  White  Burley  tobacco, 
that  a  good  crop  badly  handled  will  sell  no  better  than 
a  bad  crop  well  handled.  In  packing  the  tobacco  in  a 
hogshead,  the  heads  of  the  bundles  are  drawn  closely 
together,  but  the  tails  are  allowed  to  spread  out  like  a 
fan.  This  is  different  from  the  packing  of  heavy-ship- 


WHITE   BURLEY  TOBACCO. 


349 


350  TOBACCO   LEA.F. 

ping  tobacco,  when  every  bundle  is  packed  closely  to  the 
preceding  one  throughout  its  entire  length,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  93. 

The  best  cutting  leaf  comes  from  Owen  county, 
Kentucky,  and  from  the  hilly  land  in  Clermont  and 
Adams  counties  in  Ohio.  It  is  bright  and  thin  and  gum- 
less.  Mason  and  Bracken  counties  make  a  plug  filler  of 
fine  fiber,  but  of  good  body.  Fayette,  and  the  counties 
in  the  bluegrass  district,  will  make  a  tobacco  of  as  fine 
fiber  as  that  grown  in  Bracken  and  Mason  counties,  if 
topped  high  enough  and  planted  closely  enough.  If  a 
very  wide  space  is  left  between  the  plants,  the  tobacco 
will  grow  too  rank,  and  with  large  stems,  which  is  not 
desirable  for  either  plug  filler  or  cutters ;  such  is  the 
product  of  the  alluvial  soils  in  the  White  Burley 
counties  of  Ohio.  When  well  cured,  however,  such  a 
product  makes  a  very  sweet  chewing  tobacco. 

Manufacturing  Leaf. — In  a.  few  of  the  counties  in 
Virginia,  notably  Caroline,  Spottsylvania,  Hanover  and 
Louisa,  sun  and  air  cured  fillers  for  plug  tobacco  are 
produced  which  are  said  to  be  the  sweetest  for  chewing 
purposes  grown  in  the  United  States.  There  is  no  dif- 
ference in  the  methods  employed  in  cultivating  this  and 
the  White  Burley,  or  the  shipping  leaf.  The  main  dif- 
ference lies  in  the  method  of  curing.  The  tobacco  is 
scaffolded  until  the  leaf  is  nearly  cured  in  the  sun,  and 
it  remains  on  the  scaffold  from  four  to  seven  days.  It 
is  then  removed  to  the  barn,  where  it  hangs  until  it  is 
entirely  cured.  When  the  weather  is  unfavorable,  the 
tobacco  gets  but  little  sun.  In  such  weather,  plenty  of 
space  must  be  left  between  the  sticks  so  that  the  plants 
will  not  touch  each  other. 

No  fire  must  be  used  after  it  is  put  in  the  barn, 
unless  in  the  case  of  long-continued  damp  weather.  It 
is  then  fired  gently  to  keep  it  from  molding.  The  rich, 
mahogany  wrappers  and  fillers  grown  in  Henry  county, 


WHITE   BUBLEY   TOBACCO.  351 

Virginia,  and  to  some  extent  in  one  or  two  of  the 
adjoining  counties,  are  flue-cured  in  the  same  manner  as 
yellow  tobacco. 

Missouri,  for  many  years,  grew  a  large  quantity  of 
excellent,  manufacturing  tobacco  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  State,  on  both  sides  of  the  Missouri  river,  but  the 
product  has  greatly  fallen  off  within  recent  years.  The 
White  Burley  is  now  more  extensively  used  in  the 
United  States,  for  the  manufacturing  of  plug  and  fine 
cut,  than  all  other  varieties  combined.  West  Virginia 
is  gradually  enlarging  its  area  of  manufacturing  tobacco. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

YELLOW    TOBACCO. 

The  most  astonishing  fact  about  the  development 
of  this  industry,  described  in  Chapter  I,  is  that  it  has 
made  the  abandoned  soils  in  the  midland  districts  of 
North  Carolina  and  Virginia  the  most  valuable  for 
agricultural  purposes.  The  excellence  of  yellow  leaf 
seems  to  depend  upon  the  poverty  of  the  soil,  as  well  as 
its  color. 

This  leaf  grows  at  all  altitudes  from  50  to  2500  feet, 
and  under  isothermals  from  60°  down  to  54°,  from  the 
coast  to  the  western  North  Carolina  mountains,  along 
the  French  Broad  river  and  beyond  in  Tennessee, 
between  the  Little  Pedee,  Santee  and  Wateree  rivers  in 
South  Carolina,  in  more  than  a  dozen  counties  of  south- 
ern Virginia,  also  in  West  Virginia,  southern  Ohio,  a 
few  points  in  Kentucky,  eastern  Missouri  and  Arkansas. 
Indeed,  this  tobacco  will  probably  be  tried  wherever  the 
soil  seems  adapted.  The  State  experiment  stations,  or 
private  individuals,  are  testing  this  variety  in  Louisiana, 
Georgia,  Arkansas  and  elsewhere,  and  in  some  cases 
with  promising  results,  where  the  soils  are  most  like  the 
typical  yellow  tobacco  soils  named  below. 

The  quantity  of  yellow  tobacco  produced  was  erro- 
neously stated  by  the  census  of  1890.  Mr.  W.  W. 
Wood  has  shown  that  for  1891,  the  North  Carolina  prod- 
uct of  tobacco  was  probably  85,000,000  pounds,  while 
the  1895  crop  is  returned  by  the  United  States  depart- 
ment of  agriculture  as  nearly  115,000,000  pounds.  The 
yield  per  acre,  under  proper  culture,  varies  from  600  to 
353 


YELLOW    TOBACCO.  353 

900  pounds,  and  probably  700  pounds  per  acre  is  a  fair 
estimate  in  a  good  year,  this  being  double  the  yield 
reported  by  the  census  of  1890. 

There  is  great  rivalry  between  the  districts,  as  to 
which  grows  the  finest  tobacco.  For  a  long  time  Gran- 
ville  county,  North  Carolina,  stood  without  a  peer  as  to 
quality,  but  Durham,  Chatham,  Caswell,  Person,  Nash 
and  Wilson  now  stand  with  Granville  in  the  first  rank. 
Warren,  Franklin  and  Pitt  are  all  noted  for  growing  an 
excellent  quality.  The  western  counties  of  North  Car- 
olina make  probably  the  best  bright  fillers  and  some 
very  fine  wrappers.  Eastern  North  Carolina  and  South 
Carolina  grow  the  whitest  tobacco.  The  low,  level, 
sandy  areas  seem  peculiarly  adapted  to  growth  of  that 
style  of  leaf.  East  Tennessee  grows  some  very  fine  leaf, 
but  the  proportion  of  green  tobacco  is  large.  The  south- 
side  counties  of  Virginia  have  a  wider  range  of  product, 
growing  a  much  larger  quantity  of  inferior  tobacco,  but 
some  of  the  very  highest  grades  of  the  yellow  product. 
Every  district  has  some  peculiarity  of  product,  which 
makes  the  tobacco  easily  recognized  by  dealers. 

Wherever  produced,  this  fact  stands  out  with  prom- 
inence, that  the  soils  upon  which  it  is  grown  are  prac- 
tically the  same  in  color,  in  composition,  in  general  tex- 
ture, in  porosity,  in  physical  characteristics  and  in 
constituent  elements.  The  opinions  of  the  planters,  as 
to  the  relative  merits  of  the  product  grown  upon  old 
lands  and  freshly  cleared  lands,  differ  somewhat.  New 
lands  are  preferred  in  every  locality  where  this  tobacco 
is  grown,  except  in  the  midland  district  and  in  South 
Carolina.  In  these  districts  the  farmers,  by  judicious 
use  of  barnyard  manure  and  fertilizers,  make  the  very 
highest  grades  on  old  lands,  though  all  admit  that 
freshly  cleared  lands  with  suitable  soils  will  yield  a  very 
fine  quality.  A  peculiarity  of  some  soils  is  that  they 
will  make  a  very  fine  yellow  wrapper  for  a  year,  or  two, 
23 


354 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


YELLOW  TOBACCO.  355 

but  never  afterwards,  however  much  they  may  be 
coaxed.  This,  doubtless,  grows  out  of  an  increased 
density,  or  compactness,  of  the  soil.  There  seems 
everywhere  to  be  a  reciprocal  relation  between  the  color 
of  the  soil  and  the  color  of  the  cured  product,  for  no 
case  is  reported  in  which  a  tobacco,  having  an  orange, 
or  lemon  yellow  color,  has  been  grown,  except  on  light 
colored,  porous  soils.  Even  the  darkening  of  the  color 
of  the  soil,  by  the  application  of  too  much  stable 
manure,  will  change  the  product  from  a  bright  yellow 
to  a  mahogany,  or  mottled  leaf. 

This  must  be  said,  however,  of  the  yellow  tobacco 
product  of  nearly  every  region,  except  that  grown  on  the 
very  poor  soils  of  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina, 
that  it  will  blacken  under  pressure,  while  the  typical 
yellow  wrapper,  grown  on  suitable  soils  in  the  last 
named  States,  will  remain  as  bright  and  as  stainless 
under  the  great  pressure  of  the  manufacturer's  screw  as 
if  made  of  gold-foil.  The  poorer  the  soil  upon  which 
the  tobacco  is  grown,  the  better  it  will  bear  this  test, 
and  this,  to  a  great  extent,  is  the  test  of  merit  and 
value. 

Typical  Soils  for  Yellow  Leaf. — In  the  Champaign 
or  Eastern  district  of  North  Carolina,  where  yellow 
tobacco  is  now  grown,  embracing  the  counties  of 
Edgecombe,  Wilson,  Nash,  Pitt,  Greene,  Duplin, 
Jones,  Lenoir,  Northampton,  Wayne,  Warren,  Franklin, 
Johnston,  Wake,  Sampson  and  Halifax,  the  formation 
consists  largely  of  uncompacted,  loose  strata  of  sand, 
and  sandy  and  gravelly  clays,  generally  resting  upon 
marly  beds  of  half-decomposed  shells,  a  few  feet  below 
the  surface.  These  marly  beds  often  come  to  the  sur- 
face along  the  bluffs,  or  in  the  bottoms  of  the  stream 
beds.  The  country  is  generally  level,  or  slightly  undu- 
lating, except  where  the  streams  have  carved  out  chan- 
nels through  the  spongy  strata.  The  soil  is  grayish  in 


356  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

color,  though  when  first  cleared  the  surface  soil  has  a 
darkish  hue,  derived  from  the  presence  of  vegetable 
matter.  It,  however,  soons  becomes  gray  when  inter- 
mixed by  cultivation  with  the  subsoil,  which  is  usually 
yellow,  sometimes  gray,  occasionally  red,  or  brown ;  in 
contexture  it  is  a  clayey  sand,  though  in  certain  areas 
clay  predominates  and  it  becomes  a  sandy  clay.  The 
timber  growth  is  long  and  short  leaf  pines,  with  a 
subordinate  growth  of  oaks  of  several  kinds  and  hickory, 
and  an  underbrush  of  gum,  dogwood,  huckleberry, 
honeysuckle  and  trailing  vines.  Oaks  predominate  on 
clayey,  and  pines  on  sandy  soils. 

The  soils  in  the  Champaign  or  Tidewater  districts 
of  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina,  suited 
to  the  growth  of  bright,  yellow  tobacco,  have  an  open, 
sandy  texture  and  light  gray  color,  with  a  yellow, 
clayey,  or  sandy  subsoil,  well  drained,  naturally  support- 
ing such  tree  growth  as  has  been  mentioned.  These 
are  not  considered  fertile  soils.  Indeed,  a  crop  of  ten 
bushels  of  corn,  without  fertilization,  or  300  pounds  of 
seed  cotton,  to  the  acre  is  a  fair  yield  for  them.  They 
are  all  drift  or  transported  soils,  made  up  of  decom- 
posed, or  comminuted  rocks  of  the  midland  district, 
that  have  been  brought  down  and  ground  up,  leached, 
sifted  and  sorted.  The  oxides  of  iron  and  clay  in  finer 
particles  have  been  carried  out  to  the  ocean  in  rapid, 
glacial  currents,  leaving  behind  the  heavier  and  coarser, 
sandy  material.  This  gives  the  essential  conditions  that 
determine  their  fitness  for  the  production  of  yellow 
tobacco, — warmth  and  thorough  drainage,  aided  by  the 
negative  conditions  of  the  absence  of  iron,  humus  and 
an  excess  of  clay. 

The  late  Professor  Kerr,  from  whose  careful  obser- 
vations many  of  these  facts  are  drawn,  asserted  that  the 
early  ripening  of  the  plant  was  a  notable  peculiarity  of 
the  growth  of  tobacco  in  the  Champaign  district.  The 


YELLOW    TOBACCO.  357 

yellow  hue,  which  indicates  maturity,  anticipates  the 
beginning  of  August,  and  sometimes  the  harvesting 
begins  the  first  week  in  July,  and  the  crop  is  gathered 
and  cured  before  the  first  cuttings  are  made  in  the  more 
westerly  districts.  This  is  regarded  as  an  advantage,  as 
it  lessens  the  liability  of  damage  from  worms  and 
droughts,  or  from  excessive  rains.  Professor  Kerr  was 
of  the  opinion  that  at  least  one-half  of  the  cotton  area 
of  the  Champaign  districts  in  the  States  of  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina  is  adapted  to  the  growth  of  yellow 
tobacco. 

The  Midland  district  of  North  Carolina  and  Vir- 
ginia, lying  to  the  west  of  the  Champaign  districts,  is 
where  the  industry  orig- 
inated, and  where  the 
product  reached  its 
highest  perfection  and  I 
won  its  most  brilliant 
triumphs.  In  North 
Carolina,  the  counties 
in  the  Midland  district 
best  known  for  produc-  FIG- 1W-  BASKET  FOR  CARRYING  PLANTS. 
ing  this  tobacco  are  Caswell,  Person,  Granville,  Vance, 
Orange,  Durham,  Alamance,  Guilford,  Eockinghum, 
Stokes,  Forsyth  and  Surry.  Two  counties  in  Virginia, 
Halifax  and  Pittsylvania,  have  also  won  a  well-merited 
distinction  for  growing  yellow  tobacco. 

All  this  region  is  hilly,  often  rough,  having  numer- 
ous rivers,  fed  by  hundreds  of  tributaries,  cutting  down 
through  the  soft,  crumbling  strata  to  a  depth  varying 
from  50  to  200  feet  below  the  summits  of  the  ridges 
that  separate  the  streams.  A  very  small  portion  of  the 
soil  of  this  entire  district  is  adapted  to  the  growth  of 
yellow  tobacco.  The  best  tobacco  lands  are  found  on 
the  tops  of  the  ridges,  where  there  is  a  gray,  sandy  or 
gravelly  soil,  with  a  cream-colored  subsoil  of  a  sandy 


358  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

material.  The  favorable  indications  and  conditions 
that  promise  success  are  good  drainage,  an  open  texture 
of  the  soil,  a  freedom  from  the  oxides  of  iron,  a  forest 
growth  of  stunted  oaks,  "bald  face  Spanish  oaks," 
white  oaks  and  post  oaks — with  old  field  pines,  chin- 
quapin, huckleberry,  dogwood,  scrub,  hickory,  persim- 
mon, sourwood  and  other  natural  growth,  such  as  broom 
sedge,  poverty  grass  and  small  green  briers,  that  betray  a 
lean  or  impoverished  soil.  All  these  are  the  vegetable 
flags  of  sterility,  and  the  forerunners  of  success  for  the 
yellow  tobacco  grower  in  that  district. 

Such  places  are  called  by  the  inhabitants  "pea 
ridges,"  "chinquapin  ridges"  and  "huckleberry  ridges." 
Wheat,  oats,  or  corn  planted  upon  such  soil  will  rarely 
reproduce  the  seed.  All  the  soils  in  the  Midland  dis- 
tricts are  sedentary,  with  the  exception  of  the  triassic 
and  alluvial,  'that  is,  they  have  been  formed  by  the 
crumbling  down  of  the  underlying  rocks,  and  the  con- 
stituent elements  of  the  rocks  are  for  the  most  part 
identical  with  those  of  the  resulting  soils.  Where  the 
trap  rocks  come  to  the  surface,  the  soils  are  reddish  in 
color,  due  to  the  presence  of  the  oxides  of  iron.  Such 
soils  are  fatal  to  the  growth  of  yellow  tobacco. 

So  controlling  is  the  character  of  the  soil,  that  one 
part  of  a  farm  may  produce  the  very  finest  grades  of 
tobacco  found  in  the  market,  and  another  part  will  grow 
the  commonest  article.  The  writer  examined  a  large 
tobacco  farm  in  Granville  county  upon  which  the  very 
highest  priced  tobacco  was  produced.  On  one  part  of 
the  farm  only,  and  that  the  most  sterile,  was  any 
attempt  made  to  produce  the  yellow  tobacco.  Where 
the  soil  was  derived  from  the  gneisses,  quartzites, 
light  colored  feldspathic  rocks  and  dove-colored  slates, 
tobacco  in  its  highest  perfection  and  greatest  beauty  was 
grown,  but  no  grain,  no  vegetables,  no  fruits.  Where 
the  soil  was  the  result  of  the  decomposition  of  the  trap- 


YELLOW    TOBACCO.  359 

poid  rocks,  and  reddish  in  color,  wheat,  rye,  corn  and 
potatoes  were  grown,  with  generous  yields,  but  no 
tobacco  was  planted,  except  for  the  purpose  of  growing 
a  heavy  shipping  leaf. 

An  analysis  of  the  tobacco  soil  taken  from  this  farm 
shows  organic  and  vegetable  matter,  1.205;  silicic  anhy- 
dride, 93.50;  ferric  oxide-,  0.2675;  alumina,  2.490; 
manganous  oxide,  0.0417 :  lime,  0.233 ;  magnesia, 
0.0847;  potash,  0.5045;  soda,  0.2892;  phosphoric  anhy- 
dride, 0.0379;  sulphuric  anhydride  0.0140.  The  soil 
geologically  comes  from  the  oldest  known  geological 
formation,  the  Archean.  The  field  from  which  the 
sample  of  soil  was  taken  for  analysis  had  been  used  for 
tobacco  six  years  in  succession,  but  was  previously  an 
"old  field"  that  had  been  exhausted  by  cultivation  and 
had  been 'allowed  to  lie  untilled  for  some  fourteen  years 
previous  to  being  used  for  tobacco.  It  is  possible  that 
the  very  small  amount  of  organic  and  volatile  matter 
reported  was  due  to  the  application  of  small  quantities 
of  stable  manure  every  year.  Practically,  this  so-called 
soil  is  nothing  but  a  porous  sponge  of  sandy  material, 
destitute  almost  of  every  element  that  supports  vegeta- 
ble life. 

PREPARATION   OF    THE    LAND. 

The  light  grayish,  sandy  soil,  with  a  yellowish, 
clayey  or  sandy  subsoil,  being  selected,  preference  is 
given  in  nearly  all  the  yellow-tobacco-growing  districts 
to  new  lands,  or  rather  to  old  fields  that  have  grown  up 
in  pines  and  chinquapin  bushes  and  cleared  a  second 
time.  In  Granville  county,  Nprth  Carolina,  in  the 
South  Carolina  tobacco  districts,  and  in  Halifax  county, 
Virginia,  the  best  farmers,  however,  prefer  old  lands, 
upon  which  some  grain  or  grass  crop  had  been  grown 
the  previous  year.  The  rotation  with  tobacco  in  the 
South  Carolina  and  in  the  Champaign  district  of  North 


360  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

Carolina,  is  cow  peas,  clover,  or  grass,  tobacco  being  put 
on  the  same  land  every  third  year.  Tobacco  is  often 
put  in  after  an  oat  crop  and  also  after  hog  weeds.  It 
seems  to  be  a  conclusion,  reached  after  much  experi- 
mentation, that  pine,  or  wheat  straw,  or  coarse  mold 
from  the  forest,  plowed  under  in  the  fall,  will  cause 
tobacco  to  ripen  yellow  on  the  hill.  Old  land  makes  the 
heaviest  product ;  new  land  the  brightest  tobacco. 

If  old  land  is  selected,  it  is  broken  in  'the  fall  with 
a  two-horse  turning  plow  and  rebroken  with  a  single 
plow  in  the  spring,  often  applying  all  the  manure  that 
can  be  raked  up  about  the  farmyard.  This  second 
plowing  should  only  be  half  as  deep  as  the  first.  In 
South  Carolina,  where  very  handsome  yellow  tobacco  is 
now  produced,  the  practice,  after  breaking  in  the  fall,  is 


FIG.  105.  HANGER  FOB  LEAVES  IN  SNOW  BARN. 

to  lay  off  the  ground  in  January,  or  early  in  February, 
in  rows  three  feet  six  inches  in  width,  and  then  dis- 
tribute the  manure  in  these  rows,  covering  it  lightly. 
About  the  middle  of  April  run  a  furrow  in  the  same 
place  where  the  manure  was  distributed,  and  drill  from 
600  to  800  pounds  of  some  good  fertilizer  to  the  acre. 
Throw  two  furrows  on  this  open  row.  When  the  time 
for  setting  the  tobacco  arrives,  drag  the  beds  down  with 
a  log  and  pat  places  30  inches  apart  where  the  plants 
are  to  be  set. 

In  North  Carolina,  just  before  the  plants  are  large 
enough  to  set  out,  the  land  is  either  rebroken  and  har- 
rowed, or  plowed  with  cultivators,  and  then  harrowed 
until  it  becomes  well  pulverized.  After  this  it  is  laid 
off  into  rows  three  and  one-quarter,  or  three  and  one- 


YELLOW    TOBACCO.  361 

half,  feet  apart,  and  in  these  rows  about  75  bushels  of 
stable  manure,  and  from  2oO  to  800  pounds  of  some 
good  commercial  fertilizers,  are  distributed  per  acre. 
The  fertilizers  used  are  highly  ammoniated  guano,  or 
superphosphates  of  lime,  containing  about  eight  per 
cent  of  phosphoric  acid,  three  per  cent  of  ammonia,  and 
three  per  cent  of  potash.  It  is  believed  that  too  much 
potash  will  cause  small,  white  specks  ("frog  eye")  to 
appear  on  the  leaves.  Upon  this  fertilized  row  two 
furrows  are  thrown,  making  a  ridge.  Over  this  ridge  a 
drag  is  run,  leveling  it  down  to  the  general  level  of  the 
surface  of  the  ground.  Shallow  rows 
are  ran  at  right  angles  to  these  decap- 
itated ridges,  and  the  land  is  ready  for 
planting.  In  East  Tennessee,  the  rows 
are  run  off  from  three  to  three  and 
one-half  feet,  and  the  hills  made  from 
18  inches  to  three  feet  in  the  row.  FIG  106 

The  hills  align  only  one  way  and  are  HOOKS  ON  LATH. 
made  over  the  fertilizers  dropped  in  the  row.  In  parts 
of  Virginia,  the  practice  is  to  throw  four  furrows  instead 
of  two  on  the  fertilized  row.  This  wide  bed  is  then  cut 
off  and  patted  at  intervals  of  two  feet  ten  inches,  the 
patted  spots  indicating  the  places  for  setting  the  plants. 
Tobacco  set  out  with  the  plants  aligning  only  in  one 
direction  can  be  plowed  in  one  way  only. 

The  planting  and  cultivation  of  the  crop  and  the 
worming  and  suckering  are  done  in  the  same  manner,  or 
with  but  little  variation,  that  has  already  been  de- 
scribed in  the  chapter  on  heavy  shipping  tobacco.  In 
South  Carolina,  the  planting  begins  about  the  10th  of 
April,  in  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  from  the  1st  of 
May  to  the  10th,  and  the  season  continues  until  the 
10th  of  June.  In  some  parts  of  East  Tennessee,  nota- 
bly Hamblen  county,  tobacco  planted  on  new  lands  is 
not  plowed  in  cultivating  it,  but  simply  hoed  twice. 


362  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

The  last  time  a  little  dirt  is  pulled  up  to  the  plants. 
The  number  of  leaves  left  in  topping  the  plant  is  some- 
times greater.  Hardy,  vigorous  plants  are  topped  very 
often  to  14  leaves,  but  the  general  practice  is  to  leave 
10  or  12,  the  first  topping,  and  diminish  the  number  in 
subsequent  toppings.  A  larger  number  of  leaves  is 
usually  left  where  harvesting  is  done  by  picking  off  the 
leaves.  Before  topping,  the  lower  leaves  are  taken  off. 
They  form  a  hiding  place  for  the  horn  worm  during  the 
heat  of  the  day. 

HARVESTING  OF  YELLOW   TOBACCO. 

From  two  to  four  weeks  in  the  Champaign  districts, 
and  from  three  to  five  weeks  in  the  Piedmont  districts, 
and  from  six  to  eight  weeks  in  the  mountainous  dis- 
tricts, after  the  plants  have  been  topped,  the  harvesting 
begins.  Usually  in  the  Champaign  districts  the  first 
ripening  of  plants  takes  place  about  the  25th  of  July, 
while  it  is  two  or  four  weeks  later  in  the  Piedmont  and 
mountainous  districts.  In  all  the  yellow  tobacco  region 
two  methods  are  employed  in  harvesting  the  crop.  One 
is  to  strip  the  leaves  from  the  plant  as  they  ripen,  and 
the  other  is  to  cut  the  whole  plant,  as  in  the  heavy 
shipping  districts.  The  first  method  is  growing  in  pop- 
ularity, and  is  almost  universally  employed  in  the  new 
districts,  where  habit  has  not  sanctioned  and  fixed  the 
second  method,  that  is,  of  catting  the  entire  plant. 
The  new  tobacco  districts  are  more  open  to  improve- 
ments than  the  old.  Many  intelligent  growers,  who  use 
both  methods,  say  that  much  better  "cures"  are  made 
when  the  leaves  are  successively  stripped  from  the  stalk. 
Other  planters,  equally  as  intelligent,  say  that  the 
tobacco  lacks  oil  when  so  cured.  When  the  stripping 
method  is  employed,  the  leaves,  as  they  ripen,  are 
pulled  from  the  stalk,  put  in  baskets  (Fig.  104),  or  tied 
in  a  cloth,  and  sometimes  taken  directly  from  the  strip- 


YELLOW   TOBACCO.  363 

pers  to  a  wagon  and  carried  to  the  barn,  where  they  are 
strung  upon  sticks,  either  with  wire  or  twine.  Others 
carry  them  to  a  brush  harbor,  which  protects  them  from 
the  sun,  and  where  they  are  strung  on  sticks  before 
being  taken  to  the  curing  house. 

Mr.  John  Sims,  of  Halifax  county,  Virginia,  who  is 
an  old  and  successful  tobacco  grower,  writes  that  there 
are  several  patents  for  stringing  with  wire.  One  of 
these  consists  of  a  stick  four  and  a  half  feet  long,  with 
several  wires  twisted  around  at  intervals  of  about  eight 
inches.  These  wires  extend  out  in  opposite  directions, 
about  five  inches  perpendicular  to  the  stick,  Fig.  105. 
On  each  of  these  projections  four 
or  five  leaves  of  tobacco  are  strung, 
by  piercing  the  thick  part  of  the 
stem  with  the  wire.  Each  stick 
will  hold  from  60  to  70  leaves. 
Another  patent  has  simply  the  wire 
bent  in  the  middle  so  as  to  hug  the 
stick.  These  wires,  after  they  are 
filled  with  leaves,  are  slipped  over 
the  stick.  We  doubt  the  validity  DKAW  TWIST  FOR  TYING 
of  these  patents,  as  similar  devices  LEAVES  T0  POLES- 
(Fig.  106)  were  used  in  the  Connecticut  valley  long 
before  these  patents  were  taken  out.  The  objection  to 
the  use  of  both  of  these  appliances  is  that  they  are 
expensive,  and  that  the  tobacco  cannot  be  bulked  down 
while  remaining  on  the  sticks,  which  is  often  necessary, 
and  it  is  also  frequently  necessary  to  hang  it  up  on  the 
tier  poles  again  for  reordering. 

Mr.  Sims  says:  "The  easiest,  cheapest  and  most 
convenient  way  is  to  use  ordinary  twine,  or  cotton 
strings  large  enough  for  bag  strings.  Cut  off  a  piece 
about  twice  as  long  as  a  tobacco  stick,  and  loop  the  mid- 
dle of  the  string  over  the  center  of  the  stick.  Place  one 
end  of  the  stick  against  the  wall  of  the  barn,  and  the 


364  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

other  end  against  the  stomach,  so  as  to  have  the  use  of 
both  hands.  With  one  end  of  the  string  in  the  right 
hand,  have  a  boy  to  hand  three  leaves  at  a  time.  Grasp 
these  in  the  left  hand  and  place  them  close  to  the  stick, 
then  wrap  the  string  from  you  around  the  leaves,  one 
half  an  inch  from  the  ends  of  the  stems,  then  turn  the 
leaves  completely  over  and  across  the  stick,  thus  form- 
ing a  draw  twist  (Fig.  107),  which  will  never  come  off. 
The  next  three  leaves  are  thrown  over  on  the  other  side 
of  the  stick,  and  thus  each  trio  of  leaves  is  thrown 
alternately  on  one  side  and  the  other.  Nine  or  ten 
bunches  will  fill  half  the  stick  (Fig.  108),  and  the  string 
is  fastened  by  drawing  it  through  a  sloping  cut  in  the 
stick  made  from  the  person.  The  stick  is  then  turned, 
and  the  other  end  filled  in  like  manner."  Tobacco  tied 
with  strings  can  be  easily  taken  down  and  put  in 
"coops,"  or  hung  in  a  pit  'to  order  for  stripping. 

It  is  claimed  that  this  twist  is  covered  by  a  valid 
patent.  This  method  has  long  been  in  use  in  the  Con- 
necticut valley,  where  the  whole  plant,  instead  of  a  bun- 
dle of  leaves,  is  tied  upon  the  poles  with  string.  Some 
still  persist  in  twisting  the  string  between  the  plant  and 
the  stick,  but  most  growers  long  since  gave  up  that  twist 
as  wholly  unnecessary.  The  quickest  way  is  good 
enough  if  the  string  is  kept  taut :  Fix  the  string  to  a 
nail  or  slit  in  the  end  of  the  pole,  pass  it  around  the 
further  side  of  the  first  plant,  thence  across  to  the  next 
plant  or  bundle,  the  same  as  shown  in  pictures,  without 
bothering  with  the  twist  at  all. 

Mr.  J.  B.  Smith,  of  Milton,  N.  C.,  a  strong  advo- 
cate of  the  new  method  of  housing  tobacco  by  stripping 
the  leaves  from  the  stalk,  says  that  the  most  important 
advantages  of  the  new  process  over  the  old  are  : 

1.  The  planter  can  begin  to  house  his  crop  from 
two  to  four  weeks  earlier.  2.  Everything  is  saved, 
and  there  is  no  loss  by  "firing  on  the  hill."  3.  As  the 


YELLO\V   TOBACCO.  365 

lower  leaves  are  pulled  off,  those  left  on  the  stalk  ripen 
up  and  yellow  more  rapidly,  which  enables  the  planter 
to  get  in  his  crop  earlier  in  the  season.  4.  Tobacco 
can  be  cured  a  more  uniform  color.  5.  Less  fuel  will 
be  required.  6.  The  risk  of  setting  fire  to  the  barn 
will  be  greatly  lessened.  7.  The  tobacco  can  be  stored 
in  a  much  smaller  space,  and  with  no  danger  of  losing 
color,  or  of  mold.  8.  By  this  process  enough  leaves, 
which  are  lost  by  the  old  process,  will  be  saved  to  pay 
for  the  fertilizer  necessary  to  grow  the  crop,  also  to  pay 
for  all  extra  labor  needed  in  housing  the  same.  9.  It 
will  help  to  solve  the  problem  of  overproduction,  by 
grading  up  the  tobacco  in  our  section  so  as  to  place  us 
above  the  competition  of  those  sections  which  grow  low 
grades  of  tobacco,  which  in  the  past  few  years  has  proved 
so  detrimental  to  our  pockets. 

When  the  whole  stalk  is  cut,  in  harvesting,  it  is 
not  put  upon  the  ground  to  wilt,  as  is  done  in  the  heavy 


FIG.  108.      POLE    WITH  "HANDS"  OF    LEAVES    TIED    ON    EITHER    SIDE. 

tobacco  districts.  Two  men  cut,  while  another  person 
holds  a  stick  convenient  for  them  to  straddle  each  plant 
over  it  as  it  is  severed  from  the  ground.  The  stick, 
when  it  has  six  or  seven  plants  on  it,  is  taken  to  a  wagon 
and  either  cooped  or  hung  in  a  frame  made  for  hauling 
green  tobacco.  Or  it  may  be  hauled  on  a  sled,  as  seen 
in  Fig.  109.  When  the  tobacco  is  loaded,  it  is  taken  to 
the  barn  and  arranged  on  tiers  from  eight  inches  to  a 
foot  apart. 

There  is  no  question  that  this  is  a  much  neater  and 
safer  plan  for  housing  tobacco  than  that  employed  in 
the  other  tobacco  districts,  where  it  is  put  upon  the 
ground  to  wilt,  but  the  method  practiced  in  the  yellow 


366  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

tobacco  districts  could  not  be  employed  where  the  plants 
are  very  large  and  very  heavy  without  the  greatest  in- 
jury from  breaking  and  bruising  the  leaves.  The 
ripened  plants  of  yellow  tobacco  are  small,  with  delicate 
midrib,  and  may,  with  a  little  care,  be  handled  with 
safety  without  being  wilted.  The  dangers  to  be  appre- 
hended from  sunburn,  rains,  dirt,  and  bruising  from 
handling,  are  all  lessened  by  putting  the  plants  on  the 
sticks  as  they  are  cut. 

MANAGEMENT  OF  YELLOW  TOBACCO  AFTER 
CURING. 

Curing  yellow  tobacco  has  been  described  in  Chap- 
ter X.  Generally  the  following  morning,  after  the  fires 
under  the  tobacco  have  died  out,  if  the  doors  are  left  open, 
the  plants  will  be  sufficien tly  limp  to  be  handled  without 
breaking.  But  should  there  not  be  enough  humidity  in 
the  atmosphere  to  make  the  plants  supple,  wet  straw 
should  be  scattered  over  the  floor  of  the  barn,  and  the 
doors  shut  so  as  to  exclude  the  dry  atmosphere.  In  24 
hours  the  tobacco  will  be  in  such  order  that  it  may  be 
handled  without  damage.  This  result  may  be  hastened 
by  building  small  fires  in  the  furnaces,  and  placing  ves- 
sels containing  water  over  the  flues.  When  in  order,  the 
tobacco  is  ''cooped"  down  on  a  platform,  without  re- 
moving it  from  the  sticks,  with  the  butts  out  and  the 
tails  lapping.  The  best  way  is  to  make  a  shingle  pile  of 
six  or  eight  sticks,  and  then  shingle  backwards  and  for- 
wards, in  this  way  building  up  a  pile  five  or  six  feet  high 
and  eight  or  ten  feet  long.  Staying  in  such  a  pile 
greatly  improves  the  color,  and  makes  the  leaves  smooth 
and  neat  in  appearance.  The  leaves  should  be  soft  and 
the  stems  hard  half  way  from  the  butts  to  the  tails,  when 
the  tobacco  is  taken  down.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind, 
that  any  green  stalks  or  stems  will  prove  highly  injurious 
to  the  tobacco  so  bulked  down.  When  the  leaves  have 


YELLOW    TOBACCO. 


307 


been  stripped  from  the  stalk  in  housing,  they  are  taken 
down  in  the  same  manner,  but  the  condition  of  the 
stems  must  be  carefully  inspected. 

The  best  planters  now  have,  under  their  assorting 
and  stripping  rooms,  a  cellar  six  or  eight  feet  deep,  with 
tier  poles  put  in,  upon  which  the  tobacco  may  be  hung 


FIG.   109.      HVKVESTING    YELLOW    TOBACCO. 

These  plants  were  strung  on  sticks  in  field  and  drawn  to  barn  on  sled.    Flues 
with  return  pipes  shown  in  front  of  barn.    Coffee  county,  Central  Tennessee. 

to  bring  it  into  any  order  that  may  be  required.  Such 
a  cellar  makes  one  independent  of  the  weather,  and  per- 
mits the  work  to  go  on  at  all  times. 

The  assorting  of  yellow  tobacco  requires  a  strong 
light  and  a  discriminating  eye  for  colors  on  the  part  of 
the  assorter.  From  six  to  fifteen  grades  are  made  by 


368  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

the  planters.  In  fact,  the  prices  depend,  in  a  large 
measure,  upon  proper  grading. 

Bright  wrappers  are  sometimes  classified  into  three 
or  more  grades,  as  orange,  lemon  and  mahogany ;  lugs 
into  two  or  more  grades,  as  sand  and  smooth  lugs. 
Sometimes  a  third  grade  is  made,  called  wrapping  lugs. 
When  the  grade  between  the  wrappers  and  lugs  is  of 
good  body,  and  sweet,  it  is  called  fillers.  When  it  is 
thin  or  light  bodied,  it  is  called  cutters.  These  two 
classes,  or  grades,  are  sometimes  interchangeable.  The 
smokers  are  good  bright  lugs,  or  worm-eaten  leaves  of 
bright  color.  The  highest  grade  of  the  yellow  tobacco, 
and  that  which  commands  the  best  prices,  has  a  large 
leaf  of  a  bright  lemon  color,  with  yellow  fibers,  of  good 
body,  with  silky  texture,  tough,  elastic,  oily,  with  no 
holes  or  spots  or  ragged  edges.  It  is  not  unusual  for 
this  grade  to  bring  40  to  65  cents  per  pound.  From 
this  grade  are  made  "extra  wrappers."  Orange-yellow 
perfect  leaves  command  the  next  highest  prices,  then 
the  mahogany  wrapper.  Clear  yellow  trash,  or  lugs 
greatly  torn,  will  bring  more  money  than  perfect  leaves 
that  have  a  dull,  greenish  appearance.  In  fact,  to  avoid 
curing  a  crop  green  is  the  greatest  ambition  of  the  yel- 
low-tobacco grower,  and  his  success  depends  largely 
upon  his  ability  to  reduce  the  greenish-tinged  tobacco  to 
the  minimum.  Thin,  papery  tobacco,  brittle,  inelastic, 
easily  torn  and  destitute  of  oil,  will  not  bring  a  good 
price,  however  good  the  color  may  be. 

The  classification,  as  adopted  in  the  Danville,  Va., 
market,  probably  the  largest  yellow-tobacco  market  in 
the  world,  is  as  follows  : 

Wrappers. — The  picked  leaves,  finest  and  brightest 
and  most  perfect  leaves  on  the  stalk.  This  grade  will 
make  one-sixth  of  the  crop. 

Fillers. — This  is  every  grade  except  smokers,  wrap- 
pers and  cutters,  and  constitutes  about  one-half  the  crop. 


YELLOW    TOBACCO.  369 

Smokers. — Generally  the  lug  leaves,  which  are  the 
bottom  leaves,  and  torn,  worm-eaten  or  bruised  leaves ; 
in  the  aggregate  making  one-sixth  of  the  crop. 

Cutters. — Inferior  to  the  wrappers,  and  superior  to 
the  smokers,  deficient  in  color  to  wrappers,  but  more 
perfect  leaves  and  heavier  in  body  than  smokers.  These 
constitute  one-sixth  of  the  crop  sold. 

The  description  of  the  sub-grades  is  as  follows : 

Wrappers. — 1.  Common  wrappers  :  Lowest  grade 
of  wrapper,  and  only  a  grade  above  a  bright  filler. 
2.  Medium  wrapper  :  Not  uniform '  in  color,  dingy,  or 
piebald,  but  of  good  form  and  quality.  3.  Good  wrap- 
per :  Tobacco  of  heavy  body,  orange  color,  generally 
styled  mahogany.  4.  Fine  wrapper  :  Second  grade  of 
lemon  color,  but  inferior  to  the  fancy.  5.  Fancy 
wrapper :  Fine,  delicate  fiber,  silky,  fresh  lemon  color, 
very  leafy,  perfect  leaves,  and  the  highest  class  made  in 
assorting. 

Fillers. — 1.  Common  :  All  of  the  inferior  and 
nondescript  grades.  2.  Medium :  Good,  rich  lugs, 
and  the  dark  leaves  with  good  body.  3.  Good  :  Tips, 
and  the  better  and  brighter  heavy  lugs  and  short  leaves 
with  body.  4.  Fine  :  All  the  brightest,  best  and  rich- 
est leaves  next  below  common  wrapper,  and  generally  of 
a  gray  and  cherry-red  color. 

Smokers. — 1.  Lowest  grade  :  Worm-eaten  and 
discolored.  2.  Brown  and  short  leaves.  3.  Grade 
above  four,  and  not  so  colory.  4.  Best  smooth  lugs, 
which  make  the  highest  class  of  smokers. 

Cutters. — 1.  Thin,  papery  leaves,  thrown  out  from 
fine  fillers  when  assorting ;  lowest  grade.  2.  Same 
grade  as  three,  but  not  so  colory.  3.  Fine  cutters, 
leafy  and  inferior  leaves  taken  from  stalk  that  produced 
the  best  wrappers. 


24 


CHAPTEE  XVI. 

PERIQUE  TOBACCO. 

Of  all  the  product  of  the  tobacco  plant  in  America, 
the  Perique — its  culture,  curing  and  preparation  for 
market — is  the  most  interesting  ;  not  on  account  of  the 
quantity  produced,  or  of  its  importance  to  commerce, 
but  because  of  the  peculiarity  of  the  people  by  whom  it 
is  grown,  and  the  singular  method  by  which  it  is  cured. 
Its  culture  is  confined  to  a  very  limited  area  in  Louis- 
iana, and  to  a  class  of  people  whose  history  is  full  of 
suffering  and  pathos — the  Arcadians. 

One  of  their  number,  Pierre  Chenet,  introduced  the 
cultivation  of  tobacco  and  taught  his  countrymen  how 
to  prepare  it  for  market,  by  making  tightly  wrapped 
rolls,  called  carottes,  that  could  be  carried  to  market 
and  handled  with  ease.  In  his  honor,  the  tobacco  so 
prepared  was  called  Perique.  For  nearly  100  years  this 
tobacco  has  been  grown  in  St.  James  Parish,  with  but 
little  variation  as  to  quantity,  except  when  calamity 
visits  the  people.  In  1859  the  product  of  the  Parish 
was  22,000  pounds,  in  1869  it  was  reduced  to  3450 
pounds,  by  reason  of  political  troubles.  In  1879  it  rose 
to  14,680  pounds,  and  in  1889  the  quantity  produced 
was  almost  identical  with  that  of  1859,  being  22,360 
pounds. 

There  are  two  places  in  St.  James  Parish  where 
Perique  tobacco  is  grown.  One  of  the  points  lies  imme- 
diately on  the  left  bank  of  the  Mississippi  river,  the 
post  village  Convent  being  about  the  longitudinal  center. 
The  other  is  on  the  same  side  of  the  river  at  Grande 
370 


PEEIQUE  TOBACCO.  371 

Pointe,  which  is  three  miles  from  the  river,  and  occu- 
pies an  insular  position  beyond  the  swamps,  which  here 
run  parallel  with  the  course  of  the  river. 

These  spots  are  elevated  only  a  few  feet  above  the 
encompassing  swamps,  but  they  are  well  drained  and 
have  friable,  sandy  and  calcareous  soils,  black,  deep  and 
exceedingly  fertile.  Soil  here,  as  well  as  everywhere, 
has  a  controlling  influence  on  the  quality  of  the  product. 
The  soils  on  the  river  bank  at  Convent  are  a  gray  allu- 
vium, and  the  tobacco  is  brighter  in  color,  but  compara- 
tively destitute  of  gummy  matter,  and,  therefore,  not  so 
well  adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  Perique  as  that 
grown  in  black  soils  in  the  Vacheries,  where  the  tobacco 
is  fine,  but  gummy,  elastic  and  of  good  body.  The  best 
soils  are  those  known  as  magnolia  soils,  which  are  dark 
in  color,  but  made  friable  by  a  suitable  admixture  of 
sand.  They  are  warm  and  well  drained.  Black  lands 
mixed  with  yellow  sands  are  the  next  in  order  of  prefer- 
ence. "Where  the  lands  are  lacking  in  the  sandy  mate- 
rial they  compact  so  closely  that  the  tobacco  plant  does 
not  grow  in  healthful  vigor. 

The  variety  planted  is  called  the  Perique,  which 
has  a  leaf  of  medium  size,  is  a  rapid  grower,  small 
stem,  and  fiber  tough  and  gummy,  curing  to  a  dark 
brown  color.  Its  rapidity  of  growth  is  probably  due 
to  the  warm  situation  and  fertile  soils  on  which  it  is 
produced. 

The  making  of  seed  beds  is  unlike  the  same  work  in 
other  States.  It  begins  in  October.  Cow  manure  at 
that  time  is  applied  to  the  depth  of  six  inches  to  a 
chosen  spot  in  the  forest,  and  turned  under  with  a 
spade.  In  December  the  bed  is  reworked,  but  not 
burned,  and  ditches  are  cut  through  it  to  secure  drainage. 
The  seed  is  sown  the  first  of  January,  and  the  bed  is 
then  covered  with  palmetto  leaves,  as  a  safeguard  against 
the  frosts  of  February. 


372 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


The  land  is  broken  to  the  depth  of  six  or  eight 
inches  in  January  when  it  is  dry  enough  to  be  worked. 
If  plowed  too  wet,  and  hot  suns  supervene,  the  land 
becomes  as  hard  as  a  sun-dried  brick.  Another  plowing 
is  given  to  the  soil  about  the  middle  of  February,  when 
furrows  are  run  from  four  to  five  feet  apart  and  beds 
thrown  on  these.  Towards  the  end  of  February  a  rake 
is  run  over  the  beds,  or  ridges,  giving  each  a  wide,  level 
top.  Other  beds  are  then  thrown  on  top  of  the  original 
beds  with  a  one-horse  plow,  and  the  top  of  the  new  bed 
raked  off  with  a  hand  rake.  The  plants  are  then  set 


FIG.  110.  CURING  PEKIQUE  TOBACCO. 

out  three  feet  apart  on  the  beds,  usually  upon  the  heel 
of  a  good  shower,  but  frequently  the  plants  are  set  in 
dry  weather  and  watered  every  evening  for  several  days. 
The  main  planting  takes  place  about  the  last  week  in 
February,  or  the  first  week  in  March.  The  cultivation 
is  all  done  one  way. 

The  crop  is  cultivated  in  much  the  same  manner  as 
in  other  tobacco  growing  sections,  the  main  purpose 
being  to  keep  the  land  loose  and  to  destroy  all  weeds 
and  grasses  that  spring  up.  Topping  is  done  about  the 
15th  of  May,  without  priming  the  plant.  Early  in  the 
season,  from  12  to  18  leaves  are  left  on  each  plant,  fewer 


PERIQUE   TOBACCO.  373 

as  the  season  advances.  There  is  no  essential  difference 
in  the  manner  of  suckering  and  worming  the  crop 
between  the  growers  of  Perique  and  the  growers  of  other 
types. 

Harvesting  begins  about  the  last  of  June,  and  it  is 
deemed  highly  important  that  the  cutting  of  the  plant 
should  be  preceded  by  copious  dews,  that  appear  to  give 
a  great  activity  to  the  secreting  organs  in  storing  up  the 
rich  juices  and  gums  in  the  vesicular  system  that  give 
flavor  and  strength  to  the  cured  product.  The  plants, 
without  having  the  stalks  split,  are  cut  with  a  hatchet 
during  the  hottest  part  of  the  day,  about  three  inches 
above  the  ground,  leaving  two  or  three  leaves  bespat- 
tered with  dirt  on  the  stump.  Hands  stand  ready  to 
take  the  tobacco  to  a  shed  as  fast  as  it  is  cut.  No 
tobacco  sticks  are  used.  Small  pieces  of  cane  are  sharp- 
ened and  one  is  driven  into  each  plant  of  tobacco  near 
tbe  end  where  it  was  severed,  giving  the  cane  such  an 
angle  with  the  stalk  as  to  form  a  hook.  The  plants  are 
suspended  by  these  hooks  upon  ropes  stretched  one  foot 
apart  longitudinally  in  the  shed,  as  shown  in  Fig.  110. 
As  the  plants  wilt,  they  are  pushed  up  closer  together. 
No  artificial  heat  is  used  in  curing. 

As  rapidly  as  the  leafy  part  of  the  leaves  become 
embrowned,  without  waiting  for  the  midrib  to  be  cured, 
the  plants  are  taken  down  from  the  ropes  and  the  leaves 
pulled  from  the  stalk.  The  first  leaves  are  taken  off  in 
about  ten  days  after  the  tobacco  is  put  in  the  shed. 
After  this  two  or  three  leaves  are  taken  from  the  stalk, 
at  intervals  of  a  few  days,  until  the  stalk  is  bare.  The 
stem  or  midrib,  often  green,  is  taken  out  immediately 
after  the  leaves  are  pulled  from  the  stalk,  and  these 
"strips,"  or  half -leaves,  are  made  into  loose  twists, 
some  15  or  20  leaves  being  put  together.  A  dozen,  or 
more,  of  these  twists  are  packed  in  a  box  11  inches 
square,  with  a  capacity  of  holding  50  pounds. 


374  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

When  the  box  has  been  filled  nearly  to  the  top,  it  is 
put  under  a  lever  press,  the  lever  being  about  12  feet 
long,  to  the  ends  of  which  heavy  weights  are  attached 
so  as  to  bring  a  pressure  of  about  7000  pounds  upon  the 
tobacco  in  the  box.  After  the  tobacco  has  been  under 
this  continual  pressure  for  24  hours,  it  is  taken  out  and 
the  twists  are  opened,  shaken  and  exposed  to  the  air  for 
a  short  time  until  the  exuded  juices  are  reabsorbed. 
These  juices  resemble  thin  tar,  being  black,  thick  and 
ropy.  After  this  curing,  the  twists  are  again  put  under 
pressure  for  24  hours,  and  then  aired  for  a  second  time. 
This  process  continues  with  each  box  of  tobacco  for  10 
days  in  succession,  and  then  the  manipulation  is  less 
frequent,  once  in  every  three  or  four  days  being  deemed 
sufficient.  When  the  tobacco,  at  the  expiration  of 
some  three  months,  is  fully  cured  in  its  own  juices,  it 
diffuses  a  rich,  spirituous,  aromatic  odor,  exceedingly 
agreeable,  the  results  of  the  aeration  and  absorption  of 
its  own  juices.  From  a  light  brown,  the  tobacco  has 
gradually  grown  darker,  until,  at  the  close  of  the 
process,  it  shines  in  oily  and  lustrous  blackness. 

The  Perique  tobacco  is  cured  and  preserved  by  the 
resinous  and  fatty  substances,  and  the  alkaloids  and 
acids  contained  in  the  natural  leaf.  The  pressure  of  a 
screw  will  not  answer  the  purpose,  for  in  that  case  the 
juices  woul'd  be  gradually  reabsorbed  without  being 
aerated.  It  is  important  that  there  be  a  continuity  of 
pressure,  so  as  to  keep  the  juices  pressed  from  the]  leaf. 
Dr.  Gideon  E.  Moore,  who  spent  much  time  in  investi- 
gating for  the  government  the  changes  that  take  place 
in  the  tobacco  plant  by  different  methods  of  curing,  says: 

"In  the  case  of  Perique  tobacco,  'cured  in  its 
juices,'  we  have  manifestly  an  instance  of  a  conversion 
of  a  large  portion  of  both  the  citric  and  the  malic  acids 
into  acetic  and  butyric  acid,  and  the  agreeable,  fruity 
odor  which  this  tobacco  acquires  during  the  fermeuta- 


PERIQUE  TOBACCO.  375 

tion,  while  partly  due  to  these  acids,  would  indicate  the 
presence  of  substances  similar  to  the  volatile  oil  ob- 
tained by  Liebig,  during  the  fermentation  of  malic 
acid.  The  Perique  tobacco,"  he  says,  "contains  but 
little  over  one-fourth  of  the  citric  acid,  but  one-half  of 
the  nitric  acid,  and  about  six  times  the  amount  of  acetic 
acid  contained  in  the  air-cu red-leaf.  "  There  was  a  total 
absence  of  nitric  acid  in  the  Perique  cured  in  its  juices, 
but  it  was  present  in  the  air-cured  sample. 

The  robe,  or  wrapper,  leaves  are  the  highest  grade 
of  product.  They  constitute  10  per  cent  of  the  usual 
crop.  The  next  grade  is  good  leaf,  which  forms  the 
fillers  for  chewing  tobacco.  This  grade  usually  forms 
one-half  the  crop.  Smokers,  or  the  lowest  grade,  are 
made  of  the  lower  leaves  of  the  plant,  and  constitute  40 


FIG.  111.   CAROTTE  OF  PERIQUE  TOBACCO. 

per  cent  of  the  crop  ordinarily.     All  these  grades  are 
kept  in  separate  twists. 

After  the  tobacco  has  been  properly  assorted  and 
cured,  it  is  put  into  cylindrical  rolls  called  carottes,  each 
carotte  usually  containing  four  pounds  of  tobacco,  but 
sometimes  carottes  weighing  one  pound  are  put  up  for 
local  demand.  To  put  up  a  carotte,  the  tobacco  is  taken 
from  under  pressure,  each  leaf  opened,  straightened  and 
aired.  A  cotton  cloth,  24x18  inches,  is  laid  upon  a 
table  and  covered  with  robe  or  wrapper  leaves,  the 
under  surface  of  the  leaf  being  turned  uppermost.  The 
fibers  of  the  leaves  are  so  arranged  as  to  point  to  the 
middle  longitudinal  line  of  the  cloth.  A  layer  of  filler 
leaves,  one-half  inch  in  thickness,  is  placed  on  the  wrap- 
per leaves,  extending  to  within  one  inch  of  the  edge  of  the 


376  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

cloth.  Over  this  layer  of  leaves  a  second  cloth  is  placed 
and  the  tobacco  tramped.  The  layer  of  tobacco  then  is 
doubled  over  at  each  end  about  three  inches  and 
tramped  again.  The  entire  mass — cloth,  wrappers  and 
fillers — is  then  rolled  into  a  cylinder  fifteen  inches  long 
and  three  inches  in  diameter,  a  hole  being  kept  through 
the  center,  making  a  tube,  into  which  the  ends  of  the 
wrapper  leaves  are  tucked.  The  ends  of  the  cloth  are 
then  tied  with  strings,  and  a  rope,  one-third  of  an  inch 
in  diameter,  is  wound  tightly  into  a  coil  around  the  roll 
from  end  to  end,  by  the  use  of  a  windlass  made  for  the 
purpose.  The  rope  is  removed  from  the  roll  at  the  end 
of  24  hours,  and  then  rewound  more  tightly.  The 
carotte  is  then  ready  for  market.  A  day's  work  for  a 
man,  assisted  by  a  boy,  is  10  carottes  a  day. 

These  carottes  are  usually  put  up  during  the  winter 
months,  and  this  work  employs  every  member  of  the 
household  in  taking  the  twists  from  the  presses  and 
opening  them,  straightening  and  weighing  the  tobacco, 
before  putting  it  into  carottes.  The  tobacco  often 
remains  under  pressure  for  twelve  months,  and  it  is  said 
to  grow  sweeter  and  better  with  time.  As  there  is  a 
demand  for  it,  the  tobacco  is  put  into  carottes.  The 
carottes  form  a  species  of  currency  with  the  local  mer- 
chants, and  they  are  always  taken  in  exchange  for  goods, 
or  received  in  payment  of  debts. 

Though  the  production  is  small,  it  has  established 
a  character  throughout  two  continents  for  its  rare  qual- 
ities. It  is  unlike  any  other  tobacco  grown,  in  taste  and 
flavor,  and  those  who  use  it  claim  that  it  has  more  aroma 
than  any  other  type ;  that  it  is  free  from  the  acrid, 
biting,  creosotic  taste  so  common  in  other  Southern- 
grown  tobaccos  ;  that  it  has  a  rich,  fragrant  odor,  with 
a  smooth,  delicate  and  agreeable  taste,  and  that  it  stim- 
ulates the  action  of  the  brain  without  impairing  the 
organs  of  digestion,  or  affecting  the  nervous  system. 


PART   III. 


CIGAR  LEAF  TOBACCOS. 


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CHAPTEE   XVII. 

GENEBAL  CONSIDERATIONS   OF   CIGAE  LEAF.  . 

The  most  difficult  kind  of  tobacco  to  produce  in 
perfection,  is  the  leaf  used  in  the  manufacture  of  cigars 
of  the  finest  quality.  Until  the  advent  of  wrappers  im- 
ported from  the  island  of  Sumatra,  the  most  popular 
cigar  in  the  United  States  was  one  made  with  Havana 
fillers  (grown  in  Cuba),  bound  with  Connecticut  binders, 
and  wrapped  with  the  finest  selections  of  Connecticut 
broadleaf  or  Connecticut-valley-grown  Havana  seedleaf. 
Selections  from  the  cigar-leaf  tobacco  grown  in  the 
Onondaga  and  Chemung  valleys  of  Central  New  York, 
Lancaster  and  Bucks  counties,  Pa.,  the  Miami  valley  of 
Ohio,  and  Dane  and  Rock  counties  in  Wisconsin,  have 
also  been  used  in  the  place  of,  or  in  addition  to,  Connec- 
ticut leaf.  In  some  years  the  crop,  in  some  one  or  two 
of  these  sections,  may  be  superior  to  that  grown  in  other 
parts  of  the  cigar-leaf  States.  Inferior  cigar-leaf  tobac- 
cos are  largely  used  in  making  the  cheaper  grades  of 
smokers,  stogies,  etc.  Some  years  part  of  the  crop  is  so 
poor  in  quality  as  to  be  unsuitable  even  for  this  purpose. 
In  that  event,  it  is  usually  sold  for  export  to  Germany, 
and  used  in  manufacturing  the  low  grade  smoking  to- 
baccos and  so-called  cigars  common  in  the  low  countries 
of  Europe. 

Since  the  advent  of  Sumatran  wrappers,  the  indus- 
try has  been  considerably  depressed,  because  the  use  of 
Sumatran  wrappers  displaced  great  quantities  of  domes- 
tic leaf.  This  Sumatran  leaf  is  no  better  in  appearance 
than  the  best  American  wrappers,  and  is  destitute  of 
379 


380 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


quality  or  aroma,  but  is  used  because  it  is  so  light  and 
thin  that  but  two  pounds  of  it  are  required  to  wrap  1000 
cigars,  whereas  four  to  ten  pounds  of  American  leaf  are 
needed  to  cover  that  number  of  cigars,  owing  to  the 
heavier  weight  of  domestic  wrappers,  which,  however, 
are  superior  in  other  respects.  This  Sumatran  leaf  got 
its  foothold  in  the  American  market  by  the  grossest  cus- 
toms frauds.  The  tariff  of  1883  imposed  a  duty  of  75 
cents  per  pound  on  leaf  suitable  for  cigar  wrappers,  but 
this  was  avoided  by  importing  Sumatran  leaf  as  fillers  at 
only  35  cents  per  pound.  Government  was  thus  swin- 
dled out  of  millions  of  revenue,  while  at  the  same  time 
domestic  leaf  was  driven  out  of  the  home  market.  In 
the  tariff  of  1890,  the  duty  was  raised  to  two  dollars  per 
pound  on  leaf  suitable  for  wrappers,  being  left  at  35 
cents  on  fillers.  In  anticipation  of  higher  rates,  how- 
ever, nearly  two  years'  supply  of  Sumatran  leaf  was 
imported  before  the  latter  went  into  effect,  and  has  since 
continued  on  a  large  scale,  as  the  following  table  shows  : 

Table  V.— IMPORTS  OF  LEAF  TOBACCO  INTO  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

(In  millions  of  pounds  and  dollars.) 


YKS.  ENDED 
June  30. 

From 

Cuba 
Value. 

From  Sumatra 

OthCountries 

Total  Imports 

Lbs. 

Value. 

Lbs. 

Value 

Lbs. 

Value. 

1880 

9.3 

4.7 

0.5 

0.2 

9.7 

4.9 

1885 

9.7 

3.9 

2.2 

1.9 

0.9 

0.5 

12.9 

6.3 

1886 

10.9 

4.1 

4.0 

3.4 

0.8 

0.4 

15.7 

7.8 

1887 

11.8 

4.4 

4.2 

3.6 

1.5 

0.7 

17.5 

8.7 

1888 

11.5 

4.6 

5.9 

6.6 

1.2 

0.6 

18.6 

10.9 

1889 

13.4 

5.7 

5.0 

4.3 

1.6 

0.8 

20.1 

10.9 

1890 

16.9 

7.1 

9.7 

9.0 

2.1 

1.5 

28.7 

17.6 

1891, 

16.1 

7.1 

4.9 

4.7 

2.1 

1.5 

23.1 

13.3 

1892 

18.4 

8.0 

2.7 

1.9 

0.9 

0.4 

22.0 

10.3 

1893J 

21.7 

8.9 

5.4 

5.1 

1.0 

0.7 

28.1 

14.7 

1894, 

14.6 

5.8 

3.9 

4.5 

1.2 

0.6 

19.7 

11.0 

1895, 

19.7 

7.2 

5.1 

6.7 

1.8 

0.9 

26.7 

14.7 

1896, 

26.5 

10.5 

4.3 

4.7 

2.1 

1.3 

32.9 

16.5 

Total  *85-'96 

191.2 

77.3 

57.3 

55.4 

17.2 

~9^~ 

266.0 

142.7 

In  explanation  of  this  table,  it  should  be  said  that 
practically  all  the  leaf  imported  from  Sumatra  (the  bulk 
of  which  comes  via  Amsterdam)  is  suitable  for  cigar 
wrappers,  while  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  Cuban  leaf 
is  used  for  this  purpose,  say  15  to  30  per  cent.  The  leaf 


CONSIDERATIONS   OF   CIGAR   LEAF.  381 

imported  from  other  countries  is  mainly  fillers.  There 
is  no  longer  doubt  but  that  the  United  States  can  pro- 
duce an  abundance  of  both  fillers  and  wrappers,  and  it  is 
not  surprising  that  American  farmers  should  insist  upon 
having  the  American  market  for  all  grades  of  cigar  leaf. 
It  will  be  seen  that  during  the  12  years  for  which  statis- 
tics are  given,  nearly  $150,000,000  has  been  paid  out  for 
this  imported  leaf.  More  than  one-third  of  this  has 
been  for  Sumatran  wrappers,  which  displace  the  Ameri- 
can product.  Since  1885,  the  average  importation  of 
this  Sumatran  intruder  has  been  4,775,000  pounds  annu- 
ally. As  only  about  two  pounds  of  it  are  required  to 
wrap  1000  cigars,  the  supply  has  been  sufficient  to  cover 
an  average  of  over  2300  million  cigars  annually,  or  more 
than  half  the  average  production  of  cigars  in  the  United 
States.  The  wonder  is,  that  our  domestic  cigar  wrapper 
leaf  industry  has  stood  up  so  well  under  such  terrific 
and  unfair  competition. 

It  is  now  evident,  however,  that  higher  duties  on 
wrapper  leaf  are  likely  to  prevail  for  years  to  come. 
Meanwhile,  there  is  a  more  confident  feeling  among 
growers  in  the  future  of  the  cigar-leaf  industry,  the 
more  so  because  of  the  immense  development  of  cigar 
manufacture  and  consumption,  as  set  forth  in  Chapter 
II.  But  the  marvelous  profits  of  the  Sumatran  tobacco 
syndicates  have  directed  the  attention  of  other  countries 
to  the  possibilities  of  growing  tobacco  for  cigar  purposes. 
Borneo,  Manilla  and  other  Eastern  islands  are  experiment- 
ing extensively  and  intelligently,  while  Mexico,  Central 
America  and  certain  sections  of  South  America  are  giving 
more  attention  to  the  same  industry.  In  Mexico,  quite 
a  boom  in  cigar-leaf  tobacco  culture  has  been  developed 
during  the  past  few  years,  and  some  of  the  Mexican  leaf 
is  of  promising  quality,  in  spite  of  the  crude  conditions 
under  which  it  is  grown.  We  may  see  quite  a  develop- 
ment of  cigar-leaf  culture  in  the  Hawaiian  islands  also. 


382  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

The  famous  Havana  tobacco  of  Cuba  will  probably 
be  produced  on  a  much  larger  scale,  and  of  even  finer 
quality,  when  a  stable  government  has  been  established 
in  that  island,  that  will  encourage  enterprise  and  thrift. 
The  attractive  qualities  of  the  best  grades  of  Havana 
leaf,  especially  from  Vuelta  de  Abajo,  are  due  more  to 
the  peculiar  climate  and  soil  of  that  region  than  to 
methods  of  culture.  These  are  still  crude  in  the  ex- 
treme, owing  to  the  natural  indolence  of  the  Creole 
planters.  The  best  lands  are  flooded  during  the  rainy 
season,  and  when  the  waters  recede,  a  deposit  of  rich 
alluvium  is  left,  but  the  rainfall  is  so  uncertain,  and 
irrigation  not  being  practiced,  that  only  one  extra-prime 
crop  can  be  counted  on  every  five  years,  although  one  or 
two  medium  good  crops  may  be  obtained  in  the  interval. 
Even  where  efforts  have  been  made  to  produce  larger 
crops  by  the  use  of  manures  or  fertilizers,  the  work  has 
not  been  done  with  judgment,  and  in  some  instances  the 
burn  and  other  qualities  have  been  injuriously  affected, 
— not  so  much  because  of  the  plant  food,  as  of  the  igno- 
rance in  its  use.  It  is  very  evident  that  the  quantity  of 
leaf  produced  on  the  island  of  Cuba  can  be  enormously 
extended,  and  probably  its  quality  improved,  by  the  ap- 
plication of  intelligence,  brains  and  energy.  This  fact 
must  also  be  borne  in  mind,  in  considering  the  future  of 
the  cigar-leaf  crop  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  island  of  Sumatra,  however,  cigar-wrapper 
tobacco  culture  has  been  reduced  to  a  science,  being  con- 
trolled mainly  by  a*  few  Dutch  syndicates.  Latterly, 
however,  these  people  have  tried  to  "kill  the  goose 
that  lays  the  golden  egg,"  by  forcing  a  large  yield 
through  improper  fertilization,  not  realizing  the  judg- 
ment that  must  be  employed  in  artificially  feeding  this 
delicate  plant.  In  1895,  there  were  26  stock  companies 
and  21  private  plantations  engaged  in  the  industry  on 
the  east  coast.  The  rapidity  with  which  the  industry 


CONSIDERATIONS    OF   GIG  Alt   LEAF. 


383 


has  developed  since  this  leaf  got   a   foothold   on  the 
American  market  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  table : 

Table  VI.— SUMATRA  TOBACCO— QUANTITY  AND  VALUE. 


Crop. 
Tear. 

Bales. 
175  Ibs. 

Value 
per  lb.* 

Crop. 
Value.* 

Crop. 
Year. 

Bales. 
175  Ibs. 

Value 
per  lb.* 

Crop. 
Value.* 

1864, 

50 

17  2-5c 

$1.600 

1880, 

(54,964 

403-4c 

$4,536,000 

1865, 

189 

541-5 

16.000 

1881, 

82,356 

413-4 

5,792,000 

18(56, 

174 

41 

12,000 

1882, 

102.050 

493-4 

8,566,000 

1867, 

224 

252-5 

8,000 

1883, 

93,530 

48 

7,620  000 

1868, 

890 

513-5 

80.000 

1884, 

125,264 

523-5 

10,900,000 

1869, 

1,381 

464-5 

100,000 

1885, 

124.718 

512-5 

10,720,000 

1870, 

3,114 

441-5 

200.000 

1886, 

139,512 

56 

13,080,000 

1871, 

3,922 

494-5 

300.000 

1887, 

144,400 

434-5 

10,560,000 

1872, 

6,409 

4745 

400.000 

1888, 

82,284 

462-5 

14,200,000 

1873, 

9,238 

66 

1,000.000 

1889, 

182,241 

53 

16,180,000 

1874, 

12,895 

542-5 

1,140.000 

1890, 

234,062 

261-4 

10,320,000 

1875, 

15,355 

614-5 

1,500.000 

1891, 

225,629 

332-5 

12,640,000 

1876, 

29,030 

551.4 

2,580.000 

1892, 

144,689 

453-5 

10,920,000 

1877, 

36,520 

453-4 

2,676.000 

1893, 

169,520 

522-5 

15,040,000 

1878, 

48,550 

45 

3,648,000 

1894, 

192,767 

431-5 

14,000,000 

1879; 

57,553 

4'.>.  1-S 

4,120,000 

1895, 

204,347 

322-5 

11,330,000 

*Values  are  in  United  States  currency. 

The  effect  of  the  McKinley  duty  of  $2  per  pound  on 
wrappers,  was  to  very  largely  reduce  Sumatra's  crop  in 
1892.  Many  acres  were  surrendered  to  the  jungle,  and 
the  crop  that  year  was  almost  100,000  bales  less  than 
the  production  of  234,000  bales  in  1890.  This  decrease 
in  the  supph,  and  the  reduction  in  the  American  duty 
to  $1.50  per  pound  in  1894,  gave  another  stimulus  to 
the  industry  in  Sumatra,  and  the  '95  crop  reached  almost 
as  large  figures  as  that  of  six  years  earlier. 

The  famous  Deli  Maatschappy,  or  Pioneer  Dutch 
county,  produces  nearly  one-third  of  the  entire  Sumatran 
crop.  It  signalized  the  closing  of  its  first  quarter-cen- 
tury existence  by  submitting  an  elaborate  report  of  its 
operations  at  the  extraordinary  general  meeting  of  the 
company  at  Amsterdam,  in  November,  1894,  from  which 
our  facts  are  condensed.  It  owns  21  establishments, 
and  now  produces  about  50,000  bales  yearly.  In  1893, 
it  paid  a  dividend  of  100  per  cent,  and  the  average  divi- 
dends paid  to  its  stockholders  have  been  over  75  per  cent 
annually  since  1880.  During  the  past  23  years  it  has 
received  an  average  of  50  cents  per  pound  (United  States 


384  TOBACCO    LEAF. 

currency)  for  its  crop.  Starting  with  a  capital  of 
$120,000  in  1869,  in  1894  its  capital  was  $1,608,000, 
with  a  reserve  fund  of  almost  $2,000,000,  besides  paying 
the  enormous  dividends  alluded  to.  In  the  course  of  24 
crop  years,  the  company  delivered  to  the  Amsterdam 
market  a  total  of  494,491  packages  of  tobacco,  all  its 
own  product,  or  about  79,000,000  Amsterdam  pounds, 
representing  a  value  of  $42,612,000,  upon  which  a  clear 
profit  was  made  and  paid  to  shareholders,  of  more  than 
$11,457,000.  This  concern  also  handles  the  product  of 
other  plantations, — as  much  as  71,000  packages  in  one 
year.  This  is  done  not  only  for  the  profit  arising  from 
commissions  on  such  sales,  but  to  concentrate  the  entire 
Sumatra  tobacco  market  at  Amsterdam. 

The  plantations  of  this  mammoth  enterprise  are 
arranged  and  conducted  in  the  most  businesslike  and 
scientific  manner.  It  employs  over  16,000  workmen, 
and  the  European  personnel  of  experts  and  administra- 
tors consists  of  160  persons.  Each  of  the  21  establish- 
ments has  its  administrator,  and  four  or  five  assistants. 
The  real  office  is  at  Medan,  where  is  located  an  extensive 
hospital  for  the  help,  and  similar  hospitals  are  provided 
at  other  points.  It  has  built  fine  roads,  large  canals  for 
water  drainage,  railroads,  and  other  public  works. 

The  Deli  Maatschappy's  report  shows  that  it  was 
instrumental  in  organizing  a  combination  among  the 
planters  to  import  coolie  labor  and  pay  it  the  lowest  pos- 
sible price.  This  policy  involved  certain  features  and 
exactions  that  were  most  reprehensible,  and  the  result  of 
which  (in  the  ordinance  of  1880)  was  to  reduce  the 
coolies  to  a  condition  of  practical  slavery.  One  Chinese 
coolie  is  employed  to  each  one  and  three-fourths  acres, 
and  is  paid  from  $1  to  $8  for  each  1000  tobacco  plants 
delivered  after  the  harvest.  Japanese  coolies  get  $6  a 
month,  half  as  much  for  women,  and  board  themselves  ; 
other  help  and  foremen  getting  $9  to  $12  per  month  and 


CONSIDERATIONS   OF   CIGAR   LEAF.  385 

boarding  themselves.  With  a  plow  and  two  pair  of  buf- 
falo, about  half  an  acre  per  day  is  plowed,  after  the  cane 
brake  and  tropical  growth  has  been  cut  away.  Expert 
plowmen  are  paid  $8  per  month,  and  board  themselves. 

However  high  the  tariff  may  be  to  exclude  wrapper 
leaf  from  Sumatra,  Mexico,  or  Cuba,  another  influence 
is  at  work  that  is  destined  to  profoundly  affect  our 
domestic  cigar-leaf  industry.  We  refer  to  the  experi- 
ments in  cigar-leaf  culture  at  the  South  and  West  and 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  to  which  a  subsequent  chapter  is 
devoted.  Unless  all  signs  fail,  leaf  from  those  sections 
is  destined  to  compete  in  the  home  market  with  crops 
grown  in  the  old  seedleaf  States.  It  is  too  early  to  say 
whether  the  wrapper  leaf  industry  will  ever  be  driven 
out  of  the  East,  as  the  Eastern  grower  of  wheat,  broom 
corn,  etc.,  has  been  obliged  to  give  up  these  crops  by 
Western  competition. 

But  it  is  true  that  the  demand  for  quality  in  cigar 
leaf  is  becoming  more  and  more  exacting.  It  is  more  true 
of  cigar  leaf  than  of  manufacturing  tobacco,  that  qual- 
ity governs  prices  and  profits.  In  many  respects,  also, 
cigar  leaf  is  a  more  delicate  plant  than  any  of  the  man- 
ufacturing tobaccos — that  is,  its  quality  is  more  easily 
affected  by  soils,  fertilizers,  climate,  culture  and  curing. 
Even  after  the  crop  is  safely  harvested,  or  properly 
cured,  the  cigar-leaf  grower  labors  under  another  great 
disadvantage  in  having  no  regularly  established  market 
prices  for  his  crop,  owing  to  the  illogical  and  unsys- 
tematic method  of  selling  it,  as  described  in  Chap- 
ter XII. 

The  cost  of  producing  cigar  tobacco  varies  widely, 
even  in  the  same  sections.  In  the  Connecticut  valley, 
the  most  careful  growers  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion, 
that,  taking  one  year  with  another,  the  actual  cost  of 
producing  the  crop  ranges  from  8  to  12  cents  per  pound, 
according  to  its  quality  and  yield  per  acre.  On  the 
25 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


FIG.  113.       SWEATED  WRAPPERS. 


Havana  seedleaf,  1895  crop,  grown  on  Plot  W,  at  Poquonock 

3ranu,  a" 

long  all  raised  that  yeai , 
scarcely  any  perceptible  difference 


, 1th  Mapes  Tobacco 

,lone.    Jenkins  reports  this  plot  as  ranking  second 

"jween  the  first  five  lots  of  tobacco.' 

These  wrappers  \\civ  used  on  cigars  and  proved  the  equal  of  any  wrapper  used 
in  cigar  selling  at  10  to  15  cents  each.  This  plot  had  received  Mapes  manure 
only  for  five  successive  years. 


CONSIDERATIONS   OF   CIGAR  LEAF.  387 

cheaper  lands  of  Wisconsin,  the  cost  varies  from  5  to  10 
cents,  and  may  be  even  less  in  exceptional  instances. 
Ordinarily,  however,  the  planter  considers  that  he  is 
making  very  little  profit  if  he  gets  less  than  15  cents 
per  pound  through,  for  the  entire  crop,  if  grown  in  the 
Connecticut  valley ;  12  cents  if  grown  in  New  York 
state ;  10  to  14  cents  if  grown  in  Pennsylvania ;  8  to  12 
cents  in  the  Miami  valley,  and  about  the  latter  range  of 
values  in  Wisconsin. 

These  prices  are  often  exceeded  for  prime  crops  in 
prosperous  times.  One-third  of  the  Connecticut  valley 
crop  of  1892  was  sold  at  an  average  of  26  cents  per 
pound  through,  in  the  bundle  on  the  farm,  but  when  the 
presidential  election,  in  November  of  that  year,  fore- 
shadowed a  lower  tariff,  prices  rapidly  declined,  and  the 
whole  crop  was  moved  only  at  12  to  15  cents,  averaging 
about  13  cents  per  pound,  causing  a  loss  of  $3,200,000 
to  the  planters  of  that  section  on  that  one  crop.  The 
decline  in  the  Middle  States  was  proportionately  as 
serious. 

Aside  from  these  political  conditions  that  affect  the 
value  of  cigar-leaf  tobacco,  prices  depend  very  much  on 
the  quality  of  the  leaf  produced,  both  in  the  United 
States  and  in  other  countries.  Should  failures  occur 
with  the  Sumatran  crop  or  in  Cuba,  or  should  these 
crops,  in  any  way,  prove  to  be  of  very  inferior  quality, 
these  circumstances  would  have  a  stimulating  effect  on 
the  value  of  domestic  leaf.  Should  it  so  happen  that 
only  one  or  two  States  in  America,  the  same  year,  pro- 
duced a  crop  of  satisfactory  quality,  the  growers  of  such 
leaf  would  probably  get  extraordinary  prices.  Thus, 
the  crop  may  fluctuate  in  value  very  seriously  from  year 
to  year,  and  even  from  one  part  of  the  season  to  another. 
It  is  not  always  possible  to  tell  at  harvest  time,  or  even 
after  curing,  what  the  quality  of  the  leaf  will  be,  and 
sometimes  a  crop  that  goes  into  the  sweat  in  apparently 


388  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

the  most  promising  condition,  will  come  out  of  it  in  a 
very  disappointing  condition  for  cigar-making  purposes. 
Should  this  prove  true  of  any  considerable  proportion  of 
the  crop,  it  would  increase  the  demand  and  prices  for 
good  crops  the  succeeding  year.  Hence,  it  is  quite  a 
difficult  matter  to  follow  the  tobacco  market  closely  in 
all  its  intricacies.  Of  course  the  grower  should  do  this 
as  well  as  he  can,  but  the  first  and  essential  thing  is  to 
produce  a  crop  of  the  finest  possible  quality. 

Now  this  matter  of  quality  in  tobacco  for  cigar 
wrappers  and  binders  is  an  undetermined  thing.  There 
are  almost  as  many  ideas  about  what  constitutes  quality 
as  there  are  dealers  of  leaf,  manufacturers  of  cigars,  or 
smokers.  At  the  present  time,  and  for  several  years 
past,  qualities  upon  which  all  are  agreed  as  desirable  are  : 
A  leaf  of  light  color,  free  from  spots,  light  in  weight, 
fine  in  texture,  containing  few  and  small  veins  and  mid- 
ribs so  that  it  will  cut  into  wrappers  with  as  little  waste 
as  possible.  The  leaf  must  also  have  good  burning 
qualities,  holding  fire  a  reasonable  length  of  time  and 
burning  with  a  white  ash,  and  so  that  the  ash  will  hold 
the  form  of  the  cigar  until  knocked  off  by  the  smoker. 
All  manufacturers  and  cigar  makers  want  a  leaf  that  is 
not  brittle,  that  is  smooth,  elastic  and  supple,  yet  not 
tough.  With  all  these  qualities,  some  insist  upon  hav- 
ing a  fine  gloss,  or  shiny  appearance,  on  the  wrapped 
cigar.  Others  don't  want  that  at  all.  Some  prefer  leaf 
with  a  considerable  amount  of  gummy  or  oily  matter, 
and  a  reasonable  amount  of  it  is  essential  to  the  proper 
curing  and  handling  of  cigar  leaf,  but  too  much  gum, 
or  oil,  usually  accompanies  a  leaf  of  coarse  texture  and 
other  inferiorities.  If  the  leaf  has  large  size,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  foregoing  qualities,  it  is  also  desirable. 

The  greater  the  proportion  of  fine  wrappers  in  a 
crop,  the  larger  its  value.  Sometimes  a  fine  crop  will 
yield  60  per  cent,  or  more,  of  prime  to  good  wrappers, 


CONSIDERATIONS   OF   CIGAR   LEAP.  389 

25  per  cent  seconds  and  balance  fillers.  A  poor  crop, 
from  the  same  township  the  same  year,  may  not  yield 
more  than  10  to  25  per  cent  wrappers,  and  these  will  be 
inferior  compared  to  the  fine  crop.  The  proportion  of 
wrappers  in  New  England  and  Pennsylvania  leaf  is 
usually  larger  than  in  New  York,  Ohio,  or  Wisconsin 
crops. 

To  successfully  raise,  cure  and  market  cigar  wrap- 
per tobacco  of  the  finest  quality  is,  therefore,  a  business 
of  great  care  and  involves  constant  attention  to  every 
detail  of  management  at  the  different  stages.  The 
importance  of  attention  to  these  details  is  of  greater 
consequence  in  this  crop  than  in  almost  any  other  that 
is  generally  grown.  To  successfully  grow  the  crop,  in 
the  first  place,  is  a  difficult  matter,  to  cure  it  properly 
is  of  almost  equal  importance.  A  thorough  knowledge 
of  every  phase  of  culture  and  curing  is  essential  to  suc- 
cess, and  it  is  difficult  to  say  that  one  is  of  more  conse- 
quence than  the  other,  but  if  such  a  comparison  were 
made,  the  preference  would  be  given  to  culture;  for, 
although  a  finely  grown  crop  may  be  injured  by  careless 
curing,  no  skill  in  curing  can  make  a  first-class  product 
of  a  poorly  grown  leaf. 

The  distribution  of  the  cigar-leaf  crop  has  been 
closely  studied  by  the  New  England  Homestead,  whose 
reports  upon  it  are  the  accepted  authority.  Its  latest 
data  is  as  follows,  comparing  the  "boom  year"  of  1892 
with  some  later  crops  : 


390 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


NUMBER  OF  PLANTERS  AND  ACREAGE. 


New  Hampshire, 
Vermont, 
Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, 


No.  of  Growers.  No.  of  Acres. 

1896             1892  1896  1895             1892 

29                32  43  54                85 

48                69  120  108              164 

953            1,165  2,849  2,768           3,666 

2,970           3,353  8,262  8,170           9,851 


Total  for  New  England,  4,000  4,619 

New  York,  2,324  4,175 

*Pennsylvania,  9,500  13.425 

*Ohio,  7,500  8,OoO 

*Wisconsin,  2,800  5,160 


11,274  11,100  13,766 

4,535  5,712  12,272 

17  463  19.435  30,000 

19  OuO  22.500  25.010 

10,500  11,381  20,000 


Total,  26,124          35,379          62,772          70,128        101,038 

*In  the  absence  of  the  complete  system  of  keeping  tab  upon  the 

crop  in  these  States  which  we  have  perfected  for  New  York  and  New 

England  by  a  farm-to-farm  census,  the  data  for  Pennsylvania,  Ohio 

and  Wisconsin  are  partly  estimated. 

YIELD  PER  ACRE  AND  TOTAL  CROP. 


New  Hampshire, 
Vermont, 
Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, 

Total  for  N.  E.,  Av., 
New  York, 
Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, 
Wisconsin, 

Total, 


Pounds  per  Acre. 

Yield  (cases  of  350  Ibs.) 

1896 

1895 

1892 

1896 

1895 

1892 

1,575 

1,750 

1,634 

222 

270 

397 

1,600 

1,5"5 

1,624 

548 

486 

761 

1,^00 

1,681 

1,633 

13,838 

13,016 

17,104 

1,750 

1,721 

1,664 

41,338 

40,190 

47,486 

1,656 

1,681 

1,638 

55,946 

53,962 

65,748 

1,350 

1,274 

1,882 

17,492 

20.764 

43,381 

1,500 

1,000 

1,000 

74.8*1 

55,528 

85714 

800 

600 

750 

434^9 

3b,5"l 

53.6IH) 

1,000 

700 

892 

30,OuO 

22762 

51,420 

221,708   191,587   299,871 


PRICES  AND  VALUES. 


Average  prices  at  which  the  '95  crop  sold  and  at  which  the  market, 
for  '92  leaf  opened  are  given  in  this  table,  together  with  total  value  of 
the  1896  crop  at  (a)  the  prices  paid  in  1895  and  (b)  could  growers  get  the 


average  open  prices  of  1892. 
Average  Price. 


New  Hampshire, 
Vermont, 
Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, 


9c  25c 

9c  25c 

9c  27c 

9c  26c 


Total  for  N.  E., 

New  York,                 8c  15c 

Pennsylvania,          6c  12c 

Ohio,                           5c  9c 

Wisconsin,                 4c  lOc 

Total, 


Total  Value  of  Crop. 

1896  (a)  1896(6)  1895  1892 

$7,000  $19,500  $8,000  $35.000 

17,000  48,000  lo.OOO  64  000 

436,000  1,308,000  410,000  1,445.000 

1,302,000  3,762,000  1,265,000  4,507,000 

$1,762,000  $5,137,500  $1,699,000  $6,053,000 

90,000  918,000  581,000  2,278,000 

1,580,000  3,143,000  1,166,000  3,600,000 

759.000  1,368,000  675,000  1,7X7,500 

420,000  1,050,000  318,668  l,7!«>.!>xo 


$3,011,000    $11,616,500     $4,439,668    $15,518,480 


CHAPTEK  XVIII. 

SPECIAL  FERTILIZATION    FOR  CIGAB    LEAF. 

To  definitely  settle  certain  mooted  points  in  fertili- 
zation for  cigar  wrappers,  a  number  of  progressive 
farmers  organized  The  Connecticut  Tobacco  Experiment 
Company  in  1892,  bought  a  tract  of  old,  worn-out  land 
at  Poquonock,  and  arranged  with  the  Connecticut 
State  experiment  station  to  conduct  tests  on  plots  of 
one-twentieth  of  an  acre  each,  upon  the  following  gen- 
eral plan  of  experiment : 

1.  The  following  experiments  should  be  carried  out  on 
the  same  land  for  at  least  five  years  in  succession. 

2.  While  the  quantity  of  crop  should  be  accurately  deter- 
mined, very  special  attention  should  be  given  to  the  judgment 
of  its  quality  for  cigar  wrappers.    This  judgment  should  be 
given  by  men  of  large  practical  experience  in  the  trade  in  leaf 
tobacco,  and  the  samples  should  be  so  submitted  that  the 
judges  should  have  no  knowledge  of  any  particulars  regard- 
ing the  manner  in  which  the  separate  lots  of  leaf  were  raised. 

3.  The  final  judgment  on  its  quality  should  be  made  after 
the  leaf  has  been  fermented  in  the  usual  way,  and  the  whole 
crop,  rather  than  small  samples  from  each  crop,  should  be  fer- 
mented together. 

4.  The  following  questions  are  those  which,  as  far  as 
circumstances  permit,  should  receive  immediate  attention  : 

a.  What  is  the  effect  on  quantity  and  quality  of  leaf  of 
larger  applications  of  cottonseed  meal  than  are  commonly  used 
as  a  fertilizer  ? 

&.  What  is  the  comparative  effect  on  quantity  and  quality 
of  leaf  of  applications  of  castor  pomace  containing  the  same 
amounts  of  nitrogen  as  the  cottonseed  meal  used  in  experi- 
ments under  a? 

c.  If  a  heavy  application  of  nitrogen,  in  form  of  castor 
pomace,  proves  injurious  to  the  leaf,  can  the  injury  be  les- 
391 


392  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

sened,  or  prevented,  if  a  half  of  this  quantity  of  nitrogen  is 
supplied  by  castor  pomace  and  the  other  half  by  nitrate  of 
soda? 

d.  What  are  the  comparative  effects  on  quality  and  quan- 
tity of  leaf  of  applications  of  equal  quantities  of  potash  in  the 
following  forms :    Cottonhull  ashes,  high   grade  sulphate  of 
potash,  the  same  with  lime,  double  sulphate  of  potash  and 
magnesia,  the  same  with  lime,  pure  carbonate  of  potash,  and 
pure  nitrate  of  potash? 

e.  Is  it  possible  to  absolutely  prevent  "pole  burn"  and  to 
cure  the  crop  perfectly  on  the  stalk,  by  the  use,  in  very  damp, 
"muggy"  weather,  of  artificial  heat  simply  as  a  means  of 
ventilating  and  partly  drying  the  air  of  the  barns  ? 

The  1896  crop  completed  the  experiments,  which 
have  been  directed  by  E.  H.  Jenkins,  vice  director  of  the 
station.  The  interest  in  this  work,  the  most  exhaustive 
of  the  kind  ever  attempted,  is  so  great  that  we  have 
compiled  a  careful  summary  of  the  results.  This  ap- 
pears in  the  annexed  table,  which  is  based  on  the 
average  of  the  first  four  crops  produced.  The  quantity 
of  the  different  fertilizing  materials  applied  per  acre 
each  year  varied  slightly,  but  averaged  for  the  four  years 
as  stated  in  the  table.  The  same  is  true  of  the  actual 
plant  food  contained  in  these  mixtures.  The  idea  was 
to  supply  the  same  quantity  of  potash  to  each  plot,  but 
in  different  form.  This  was  also  true  of  phosphoric 
acid,  but  both  the  amount  and  form  of  nitrogen  varied 
considerably.  The  season  of  '92  was  favorable,  and  a 
large  yield  of  fine  quality  was  obtained ;  the  next  three 
seasons  were  comparatively  dry.  The  crops,  therefore, 
varied  considerably  in  yield  and  quality,  but  the  aver- 
age for  the  four  years  partly  removes  these  seasonal 
influences,  and  enables  us  to  judge  more  clearly  of  the 
effect  of  the  fertilizers. 


SPECIAL  FERTILIZERS. 


394  TOBACCO    LEAF. 


Table  VII.—  FERTILIZERS  USED,  QUANTITY  AND 

KIND  OF  CROP. 

Plot         Fertilizer  TT«ed                         Fer  Con'd  Lbs  of    Yield     Wt  Wrap  D  Ac      Pr  ct  Wr 
Plot         Fertilizer  Used                      Nitro  ph  acid  Pot  Pr  ac  ft  j^  s^^Total   L     s    Tot 

A  1500  cottonseed  meal, 
1500  cottonhull  ashes, 

105    150    340    1611    716 

240    956 

44     14 

68 

B1800  linseed  meal, 
1500  cottonhull  ashes, 

105    150    340    1561    692 

252    944 

44    17 

a 

C2500  cottonseed  meal, 
1500  cottonhull  ashes, 

175    175    340    1686    790 

275  1065 

46    16 

68 

D3000  cottonseed  meal, 
1500  cottonhull  ashes, 

210    180    340    1835    960 

266  1226 

51     15 

ct; 

E2000  castor  pomace, 
1500  cottonhull  ashes, 

105    140    340    1761    765 

275  1040 

43    15 

58 

_  1800  linseed  meal, 

H    650  cottonhull  ashes, 

105    150    150    1653    736 

271  1007 

45    16 

61 

260  bone  meal, 

G  3iMO  <SttonWiaMlies, 

175    760    340    1700    758 

2661024 

44    15 

H» 

H  4woo!So^S,S,0Jii:  aThes 

210    180    340    1881  1025 

270  1295 

53    14 

67 

12500  castor  pomace, 
1500  cotton  hull  ashes, 

210    150    340    1881    990 

256  1246 

52    15 

CT 

640  nitrate  of  soda, 
_'<500  castor  pomace, 

J    1500  cottonhull  ashes,  210    150    340    19921083    2951378    54    15    69 

640  nitrate  of  soda, 

K1500  cottonseed  meal, 
1200  double  manure  105    150    340    1804    866    275  1141    48    15    63 

salt,  400  bone  meal, 
_    1500  cottonseed  meal, 

L    1200  double  manure  salt,    105    150    340    1685    720    2901010    42    17    59 
400  bone,  300  lime, 

M  1500  cottonseed  meal, 
600  sulphate  of  potash,       110    150    340    1725    653    252    905    37    15    52 
400  bone  meal, 

N  1500  cottonseed  meal, 
600  sulphate  of  potash,        110    150    340    1721    724    269    993    42    16    58 
400  bone,  300  lime, 

01500  cottonseed  meal, 
600  carbonate  of  potash,     110    150    340    1575    670    249    919    43    16    59 
400  bone  meal, 
—  1500  cottonseed  meal, 

J*    1700  doub  car'  po'sh  &          105    150    340    1414    550    231    781    38    16    64 
mag,  360  bone  meal, 

Average  of  all  the  plots,      141    155    328    1718    794    265  1058    45    15    63 

The  larger  the  amount  of  nitrogen  used,  the  heavier 
was  the  crop  and  the  larger  the  per  cent  of  wrappers. 
(See  Plots  D,  H,  I,  J.)  There  were  no  very  marked 
differences  in  yield  due  to  the  form  in  which  the  nitro- 
gen was  applied, — castor  pomace,  G,  shows  a  slight 
advantage  over  cottonseed  meal,  D,  but  when  (J)  all  the 
nitrate  of  soda  was  applied  between  the  rows,  at  first 
cultivation,  the  yield  of  wrappers  averaged  132  pounds 


SPECIAL  FERTILIZERS.  395 

per  acre  more  than  Plot  I,  similarly  fed,  except  that 
half  of  the  nitrate  was  applied  at  the  first  and  the  bal- 
ance at  second  cultivating.  This  fact  is  directly  con- 
trary to  theory,  and  is  not  due  to  the  absence  of  suffi- 
cient moisture  after  the  second  application  to  dissolve 
the  nitrate  so  that  the  plants  could  feed  upon  it,  because 
the  same  result  was  noted  during  the  first  dry  season 
and  the  succeeding  wet  years. 

Linseed  meal  gave  quite  as  good  results  in  yield  and 
quality  as  cottonseed  meal.  Indeed,  the  more  moderate 
application  per  acre,  on  Plot  F,  of  linseed  meal,  with 
less  than  half  as  much  cottonhull  ashes  as  some  of  the 
other  plots,  and  a  little  bone  meal,  produced  one  of  the 
most  profitable  crops,  because  cost  of  fertilizer  was 
smaller  than  on  other  plots.  In  view  of  results  on  F,  it 
is  a  question  whether  so  much  as  340  pounds  per  acre  of 
actual  potash  is  at  all  necessary. 

The  form  of  potash  used  seems  to  have  as  much 
effect  as  the  quantity.  The  carbonate  of  potash  gave 
distinctly  unfavorable  results  compared  with  sulphate, 
which  is  now  used  for  tobacco  by  all  scientific  farmers. 
The  poorest  yield  of  all  was  on  P,  dressed  with  double 
carbonate  of  potash  and  magnesia.  Yet  tobacco  on  this 
soil  evidently  needed  magnesia,  for  on  K  and  L,  where 
potash  was  put  on  in  the  form  of  double  manure  salt 
(consisting  of  sulphate  of  potash  united  with  sulphate 
of  magnesia),  the  yield  was  considerably  better  than 
where  only  high-grade  sulphate  of  potash  was  concerned. 

With  these  crops  of  cigar  wrapper  leaf,  quality 
was  what  determined  their  market  value.  It  depends 
upon  color,  texture,  thinness,  lightness,  freedom  from 
spots,  holes,  coarse  ribs  or  other  imperfections,  burning 
quality,  and  other  even  more  delicate  points.  It  is  not 
possible  to  intelligently  average  these  points  in  the  four 
years'  crops  from  each  plot.  But  the  average  number 
of  wrappers  required  to  weigh  a  pound  is  important,  as 


396  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

the  thinner  the  leaf  the  more  cigars  it  will  cover  and — 
other  qualities  being  equal — the  more  it  is  worth.  The 
McKinley  bill  imposed  a  duty  of  $2  per  pound  on  wrap- 
pers "of  which  more  than  100  are  required  to  weigh  a 
pound."  The  length  of  time  a  cigar  will  hold  its  fire  is 
also  important.  Hence,  the  comparative  capacity  of 
holding  fire  was  ascertained  by  careful  tests  of  each 
crop ;  the  leaf  which  held  fire  the  shortest  time  in  each 
of  the  four  crops  was  called  100,  and  the  table  gives  the 
average  of  these  determinations,  the  larger  figures  indi- 
cating the  longer  capacity  to  hold  fire  ;  the  figures  under 
the  heading  "Cured"  are  the  average  of  fire  tests  made 
of  the  1892-3-4  crops,  when  pole  cured,  or  barn  cured, 
while  under  "Fer."  are  given  average  results  of  similar 
tests  of  each  of  these  crops  after  fermentation.  After 
each  crop  had  "gone  through  the  sweat,"  or  fermenta- 
tion, judgment  as  to  the  quality  for  wrappers  of  the 
leaves  from  each  plot  was  finally  passed  by  practical 
experts,  the  best  crop  each  year  being  marked  1,  the 
second  best  2,  and  so  on,  and  this  data  is  given  in  the 
last  three  columns  of  the  following  table.  For  conven- 

Table  VIII.—  QUALITY  OF  THE  VARIOUS  CROPS. 


Plot 

Yield  of  *  Wrapp's  pr  Lb   Fire  Holding 
Wrappers  Long   Short   Cured     Fer. 

Value  as  Wrappers 
1892     '93    t'94 

A 

956 

68 

91 

205 

333 

10 

23 

5 

B 

944 

69 

90 

223 

305 

12 

1 

6 

1065 

63 

86 

221 

275 

2 

5 

11 

1226 

61 

202 

248 

3 

8 

16 

E 

1040 

61 

84 

167 

236 

16 

29 

28 

F 

1007 

67 

91 

237 

415 

8 

3 

4 

G 

1024 

208 

245 

4 

22 

15 

H 

1295 

63 

86 

205 

262 

5 

9 

14 

I 

1246 

64 

83 

202 

240 

19 

21 

20 

J 

1378 

65 

80 

233 

266 

22 

6 

19 

i 

1141 

61 

89 

159 

215 

6 

15 

17 

L 

1010 

65 

86 

153 

233 

9 

25 

M 

905 

69 

84 

147 

209 

23 

28 

26 

H 

993 

65 

85 

163 

188 

7 

19 

25 

0 

919 

70 

94 

195 

244 

1 

24 

13 

P 

781 

75 

100 

271 

425 

14 

14 

2 

Av.,   1058  60  87  199  275  — 

*Pole  cured  ;  leaves  are  lighter  after  going  through  the  sweat. 
The  1894  crop  averaged  per  pound  of  pole-cured  short  wrappers  88 
leaves,  fermented  97  ;  long  wrappers  64  pole  cured,  71  fermented.  fThe 
'95  crop  is  yet  in  sweat. 


SPECIAL   FERTILIZERS.  397 

ience  of  comparison,  the  average  yield  per  acre  of  wrap- 
per leaf  is  included  from  Table  VII,  which  gives  the 
methods  of  fertilization  on  each  plot,  total  yield  of  all 
grades  of  leaf  on  each  plot,  etc. 

Somewhat  similar  experiments  have  been  made  by 
the  Pennsylvania  experiment  station,  but  were  inter- 
rupted for  lack  of  funds.  The  whole  subject  of  feeding 
the  tobacco  plant  is  fully  discussed  in  Chapter  VI,  but 
some  further  points  applying  specially  to  cigar  leaf 
should  be  mentioned  here.  Especially  would  we  reiter- 
ate that  the  proper  use  of  appropriate  commercial  ferti- 
lizers or  agricultural  chemic'tls  is  not  injurious  to  either 
quality  or  quantity  of  the  yield.  On  the  contrary,  such 
use  improves  the  quality  and  increases  the  yield.  But 
"the  proper  use  of  appropriate  fertilizers"  covers  many 
things  that  can  only  be  learned  by  long  experience,  and 
cannot  be  taught  in  books.  This  matter  has  been  closely 
studied  by  practical  farmers  and  by  fertilizer  experts 
and  manufacturers,  especially  during  the  past  few  years. 
In  addition  to  the  popular  fertilizers  previously  used 
with  general  satisfaction  by  careful  growers,  this  work 
has  resulted  in  bringing  out  some  new  "tobacco  ash" 
mixtures,  for  which  much  is  expected. 

The  first  of  these  new  mixtures  to  be  announced 
was  Mapes  "tobacco  ash  constituents,"  designed  to  be 
used  in  connection  with  cottonseed  meal  or  any  material 
supplying  ammonia.  The  raw  materials  generally  used 
by  the  most  successful  tobacco  growers  in  connection 
with  cottonseed  meal,  and  also  employed  at  Poquonock, 
are  double  sulphate  of  potash  (containing  sulphate  of 
potash  and  sulphate  of  magnesia),  high  grade  sulphate 
of  potash,  cottonhull  ashes,  wood  ashes  and  bone  meal. 
Both  wood  and  cottonhull  ash  vary  in  quality,  and  are 
at  times  the  most  expensive  forms  of  potash.  These 
materials  also  may  contain  much  more  magnesia  than 
the  crop  requires.  Jenkins  declares  that  an  excess  of 


398  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

magnesia  in  the  plant  is  known  to  be  injurious  unless 
lime  is  also  abundant.  An  average  yield  of  tobacco 
takes  some  30  pounds  of  magnesia  from  an  acre,  and 
this  occurs  mostly  in  the  leaf.  Yet  1500  pounds  of  cot- 
tonhull  ashes,  the  amount  usually  used  per  acre,  supplies 
about  165  pounds  of  magnesia,  and  less  than  one-half  as 
much  lime.  The  double  sulphate  of  potash,  in  equiva- 
lent quantities,  carries  about  190  pounds  of  magnesia. 
"If  too  much  magnesia  is  present  in  the  leaf,  it  may 
show  in  the  form  of  the  so-called  'light  mold'  on  the 
leaf  when  it  comes  out  of  the  case,  greatly  damaging  its 
salability,  though  not  materially  damaging  its  qualities 
for  wrappers.  This  is  not  a  true  mold,  but  is  a  malate 
of  magnesia — an  effloresced  crystalline  matter  which  has 
come  out  of  the  leaf  tissue."  Whether  this  is  caused  by 
too  much  magnesia  in  the  soil  or  fertilizers  is  not  defi- 
nitely determined,  though  such  is  the  belief  of  some  who 
have  given  up  the  use  of  cottonlmll  ashes  in  consequence. 
The  high  grade  sulphate  of  potash,  on  the  other  hand, 
contains  little  or  no  magnesia. 

As  a  substitute  for  the  foregoing  articles,  this  "to- 
bacco ash  constituents"  has  been  prepared,  1000  pounds 
of  it  supplying  150  pounds  actual  potash,  phosphoric 
acid  57  pounds,  lime  over  200  pounds,  ammonia  6 
pounds,  magnesia  20  to  30  pounds.  The  lime  is  in  the 
form  of  a  finely  powdered  carbonate  of  lime,  which  is 
preferred  for  the  reasons  fully  set  forth  in  Chapter  VI. 
This  "tobacco  ash  constituents"  is  thus  intended  to  be 
free  from  all  objectionable  characteristics  of  the  sub- 
stances usually  used,  and  1000  pounds  of  it,  applied 
with  2000  pounds  cottonseed  meal,  will  be  found  to 
supply  in  liberal  excess  all  the  plant  food  required  for  an 
acre  of  cigar-leaf  tobacco,  and  in  thoroughly  tested 
forms.  Such  a  mixture  will  furnish  of  ammonia  156 
pounds,  phosphoric  acid  77  pounds,  and  potash  170 
pounds ;  while  a  crop  of  2700  pounds  of  cured  leaf  and 


SPECIAL   FERTILIZERS.  399 

dried  stalks  per  acre  will  contain  118,  16  and  138 
pounds,  respectively,  of  these  elements. 

Another  attempt  in  the  same  direction  is  Bowker's 
"  tobacco  ash  elements  without  ammonia,"  1000  pounds 
of  which  are  guaranteed  to  contain  of  soluble  actual 
potash  160  pounds,  phosphoric  acid  60  pounds,  lime  300 
pounds,  magnesia  30  pounds.  This  mixture  is  guaran- 
teed "to  be  composed  principally  of  wood  ashes  and 
bone  ash,  containing  potash  in  the  form  of  carbonate, 
and  the  phosphoric  acid  largely  in  available  form, 
besides  carbonate  of  lime  and  magnesia  in  the  same 
form  as  in  cottonhull  ashes,  and  with  a  sufficient  excess 
of  lime  to  meet  not  only  the  wants  of  the  tobacco  crop, 
but  also  to  counteract  any  acid  condition  of  the  soil,  and 
to  improve  its  texture  and  mechanical  condition. " 

It  will  be  seen  that  both  these  mixtures  are  free 
from  the  substances  which  have  proven  objectionable  to 
the  tobacco  crop  at  the  Poquonock  experiment  station — 
acids,  chlorine,  excessive  magnesia,  and  deficiency  of 
lime.  It  is  recommended  to  plow  in  such  mixtures  two 
weeks  before  setting  plants.  If  the  fertilizer  is  only 
harrowed  in,  no  harm  need  be  feared  if  the  quantity  is 
moderate  and  seasonable  showers  fall ;  but  if  you  get 
caught  with  a  dry  spell  after  setting,  more  or  less  dam- 
age follows.  "But,"  says  Jenkins,  "be  the  season  wet 
or  dry,  the  crop  will  be  likely  to  get  the  full  benefit  of- 
fertilizer  which  has  been  plowed  under,  for  the  roots 
will  find  it."  Indeed,  tobacco  has  a  widespreading  root 
system,  in  addition  to  its  taproot,  and  this  is  sufficient 
reason  for  broadcast  applications  of  manures  or  fertili- 
zers plowed  under  or  thoroughly  harrowed  in. 

A  substitute  for  cottonhull  ashes,  or  other  forms  of 
tobacco  ash  ingredients,  also  a  substitute  for  cottonseed 
meal,  or  castor  pomace,  is  put  out  by  Mr.  Bowker  as 
modification  of  his  "ash  elements."  It  has  ammonia, 
in  addition  to  the  ash  elements,  serving  as  a  general  fer- 


400 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


Eft 

1 5s 


II 

8} 


SPECIAL   FERTILIZERS.  401 

tilizer  and  starter.  It  is  recommended  to  use  1000 
pounds  of  this  mixture  with  1500  pounds  of  cottonseed 
meal  per  acre,  the  meal  and  half  of  the  fertilizer  being 
plowed  under,  and  the  rest  of  the  fertilizer  applied  as  a 
starter,  and  harrowed  into  the  soil  just  before  the  plants 
are  set  out.  The  Mapes  tobacco  starter,  for  tobacco 
beds  and  for  plants  at  setting  out,  has  also  been  much 
used,  and  is  serviceable  in  giving  plants  a  prompt  start. 
Such  a  start  is  important,  as  only  the  earlier  grown  and 
fully  matured  tobacco  cures  light  and  glossy  under  usual 
conditions. 

More  evidence  that  leaf  of  the  best  quality  can  be 
raised  on  commercial  fertilizers,  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  the  largest  prices  in  recent  years  have  been  for  Con- 
necticut leaf  manured  in  this  way.  Special  attention  is 
directed  to  the  magnificent  Andross  crop  of  broadleaf 
grown  in  the  celebrated  East  Hartford  section,  an  en- 
graving of  which  (from  a  photograph  taken  for  this 
work),  appears  on  Page  400,  while  the  typical  plant  of 
Connecticut  broadleaf  shown  in  Plates  I  and  II,  Pages 
19  and  23,  was  from  this  crop.  The  fertilizer  used  was 
4000  pounds  of  tobacco  stems  per  acre,  with  1500  pounds 
of  Baker's  castor  pomace  and  800  pounds  of  H.  J.  Baker  & 
Bros.'  A.  A.  brand  of  tobacco  fertilizer.  Another  field 
was  treated  the  same  way  the  previous  year,  but  upon  it, 
in  1896,  manure  was  substituted  for  the  stems,  with 
2000  pounds  of  pomace,  which  was  the  treatment  given 
the  fields  illustrated  in  1895.  Mr.  Andross  adds  :  "  We 
generally  alternate  between  stems  and  pomace,  and  ma- 
nure and  pomace  or  cottonseed  meal.  Sometimes  we 
use  manrre  two  years  and  stems  one  year.  It  is  safe  to 
say  that  we  get  the  cleanest,  healthiest  and  heaviest 
crop  the  year  when  the  stems  are  used.  In  my  east 
field,  not  shown  in  the  photograph,  I  used  manure  and 
pomace,  but  it  is  not  as  heavy  as  the  field  where  the  fer- 
tilizer is  used." 
30 


402  TOBACCO   LEA.F. 

The  crop  of  one  of  the  most  celebrated  growers  in 
the  Connecticut  valley,  Mr.  W.  W.  Sanderson,  is  illus- 
trated on  Page  378.  This  field  has  been  in  tobacco  for 
more  than  ten  successive  years,  yielding  an  average  of 
over  one  ton  per  acre  in  cured  leaf  annually.  It  has 
had  a  light  coat  of  stable  manure  annually  and  lime 
every  third  year,  and  in  the  alternate  season,  1500  to 
2000  pounds  per  acre  of  Stockbridge  special  tobacco  ma- 
nure. In  1895,  the  Stockbridge  was  reduced  to  1200 
pounds  per  acre,  and  1200  pounds  cottonseed  meal  was 
also  used.  In  1896,  the  same  doses  were  repeated.  The 
1895  crop  on  the  nine  acres  weighed  19,795  pounds  net 
when  assorted  and  cased,  65  per  cent  being  the  light 
wrappers,  15  per  cent  dark  wrappers,  and  the  balance 
seconds  and  fillers.  The  '96  crop  was  over  50  per  cent 
light  wrappers  of  the  finest  quality,  and  20  per  cent 
dark  wrappers,  the  leaf  being  very  thin  and  fine.  Mr. 
Sanderson  finds  that  the  addition  of  some  cottonseed 
meal  produces  a  more  oily  and  glossy  leaf,  but  too  large 
quantities  of  this  meal  on  medium  to  dark  soils  will  give 
a  dark  colored  leaf. 

Another  remarkable  instance  of  results  obtained 
with  tobacco  grown  on  commercial  fertilizers,  is  offered 
by  the  experience  of  Mr.  0.  B.  Lowell,  of  Tioga  county, 
Pa.,  whose  crop  is  illustrated  on  Page  416.  He  raises 
about  30  acres  of  tobacco  annually,  using  1000  pounds 
per  acre  of  Mapes  Wrapper  Brand,  with  500  pounds  per 
acre  of  Mapes  "tobacco  starter,"  20  loads  of  stable  ma- 
nure having  been  previously  plowed  under.  The  colors 
are  remarkably  light,  the  yield  large,  the  texture  fine 
and  all  that  could  be  desired.  A  similar  estimate  comes 
from  Joseph  K.  Schultz,  of  Washingtonboro,  Lan- 
caster county,  Pa.,  whose  1896  crop  of  40  acres,  the 
eighteenth  in  succession  on  the  same  land,  is  the  finest 
he  ever  raised,  and  it  is  the  eighth  year  that  the  land 
has  been  manured  in  this  way :  Horse  manure  is  plowed 


SPECIAL  FERTILIZERS.  403 

under,  and  from  1500  to  2000  pounds  of  Mapes  Wrapper 
Brand  harrowed  in,  with  400  to  600  pounds  per  acre  of 
Mapes  "starter." 

These  and  other  crops  raised  on  the  Mapes  manures 
have  yielded  1800  to  2000  pounds  of  assorted  leaf  per 
acre,  and  Mapes  tobacco  in  the  Connecticut  valley,  of 
the  famous  '92  crop,  sold  at  30  to  33  cents  per  pound, 
— the  highest  prices  recorded  in  recent  years.  Crops 
grown  on  the  other  fertilizers  mentioned  have  also  for 
many  years  commanded  the  top  of  the  market,  demon- 
strating beyond  a  peradventure  the  correctness  of  our 
view,  that  the  proper  use  of  fertilizers  is  anything  but 
detrimental  to  quantity  or  quality. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

CULTURE  OF   CIGAR  LEAF  TOBACCO. 

Soils. — Throughout  all  the  New  England  tobacco 
section,  a  warm,  deep,  sandy  loam,  having  a  permeable 
subsoil,  is  preferred  for  the  crop.  Occasionally,  tobacco 
is  grown  upon  the  bottom  lands,  especially  when  well 
drained.  The  soil  of  these  lands  is  dark  with  vegetable 
matter,  but  rendered  easy  of  tillage  in  most  cases  by  the 
large  percentage  of  sand  which  it  naturally  contains. 
The  popular  impression  is,  that  tobacco  from  the  bottom 
lands  is  dark  colored,  and  as  only  light  wrappers  are 
now  in  demand,  and  this  can  be  expected  when  grown 
on  the  higher  land,  the  bottom  lands  are  not  much  used 
for  tobacco.  However,  the  most  essential  point  looked 
for  is  that  the  soil  is  free  from  standing  water,  and  sus- 
ceptible of  early  and  late  cultivation.  Providing  this 
condition  exists,  the  bottom  lands  can  be  used  ;  but  this 
condition  is  exceptional.  The  alluvial  soil  of  the  Con- 
necticut bottoms  differs  from  that  of  most  bottom  lands 
in  the  country,  in  possessing  a  considerable  proportion 
of  sand,  which  renders  it  warm  and  easy  of  cultivation, 
and  is  much  less  troubled  with  water  than  is  usually  found 
on  similar  lands  in  other  valleys.  Tobacco,  therefore, 
can  be  raised  on  some  lands  in  the  Connecticut  valley, 
when  it  would  fail  if  placed  on  the  bottom  lands  of  other 
rivers. 

Freedom  from  standing  water, — a  naturally  well- 
drained  soil, — is  the  first  great  essential  to  successful  to- 
bacco growing.  The  crop  will  not  grow  in  a  soil  pos- 
sessing an  impervious  subsoil  that  prevents  drainage, 
404 


CULTURE   OF  CIGAR   LEAF.  405 

for  such  soils  are  cold  from  the  water  of  saturation. 
For  the  same  reason,  clay  soils  cannot  be  advantageously 
used.  They  are  cold  and  wet,  and,  moreover,  are  with 
difficulty  brought  into  and  kept  in  the  exceedingly  fine 
state  of  tillage  that  is  necessary  for  the  success  of  tobacco. 
These  lands  are  often  admirably  adapted  to  grass,  pota- 
toes, and  other  crops,  but  are  disappointing  for  tobacco. 
It  is  far  better  economy  to  bring  a  poor  piece  of  land  of 
a  sandy  nature,  warm  and  friable,  into  a  proper  state  of 
fertility,  by  applying  manures  and  fertilizers,  than  to 
endeavor  to  grow  the  crop  on  stronger  but  wet  soil. 
Crops  have  been  grown  successfully  on  almost  pure  sand, 
but  such  instances  are  rare ;  soil  that  is  too  sandy  will 
not  hold  water  enough  to  support  the  plant  or  to  dis- 
tribute the  fertilizers  incorporated  in  it ;  and  an  exces- 
sively dry  soil  is  almost  as  objectionable  as  one  that  is 
too  wet.  Much  land  of  a  sandy  nature  can  be  wonder- 
fully improved  in  its  capacity  for  retaining  moisture,  by 
a  proper  course  of  manuring,  although  the  first  cost  of 
bringing  such  land  into  condition  is  very  heavy.  On  a 
naturally  warm,  mellow,  fertile  soil,  the  expense  of  ma- 
nuring, in  the  first  instance,  is  much  less,  and  such  a 
soil  is  the  one  preferred. 

Mr.  Whitney  has  clearly  shown  that  a  dark,  moist 
soil  produces  leaves  dark  in  color,  comparatively  thick, 
and  containing  considerable  oil  and  gum,  but  which, 
while  sweating  well,  come  out  so  dark  that  they  are  not 
suited  for  cigar  wrappers,  now  that  light  color,  thin- 
texture  leaf  is  the  fashion  for  this  purpose.  Upon  light, 
sandy  soil,  the  quality  is  very  fine,  the  texture  of  the 
leaf  is  thin,  and  the  color  light,  making  the  best  cigar 
wrappers.  The  more  clay  and  silt  soils  contain,  the 
more  retentive  are  they  of  moisture,  and  the  heavier  the 
type  of  leaf  they  produce.  Thus,  the  leaves  produced 
at  Poquonock  on  a  soil  containing  only  seven  per  cent 
of  water  are  lighter  colored  and  of  thinner  texture  than 


406  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

those  produced  at  East  Hartford,  where  the  soil  contains 
double  the  amount  of  water,  and  very  much  better  than 
the  leaf  grown  at  Hatfield  on  soil  containing  28  per  cent 
of  water.  But  the  difference  in  color  and  texture  in 
these  cases  is  not  wholly  due  to  the  difference  in  mois- 
ture. The  difference  is  partly  due  to  the  mechanical 
condition  of  the  land.  That  at  East  Hartford  contains 
much  more  fine  silt  and  clay  than  is  the  case  at  Poquo- 
nock. 

Mr.  Whitney's  studies  also  show  that,  even  if  the 
soil  does  contain  considerable  clay  and  moisture,  if  it  is 
well  drained,  either  artificially  or  naturally,  it  may  yet 
produce  a  very  fine  quality  of  tobacco.  He  believes  that 
much  land  now  comparatively  moist  can  be  adapted  to 
the  finer  grades  of  cigar  wrappers.  "The  first  thing 
needed  is  to  underdrain  the  land  by  tile  drains,  so  as  to 
remove,  as  much  as  possible,  the  excess  of  water. 
The  tobacco  should  be  grown  on  high  beds,  or  ridges, 
which  would  keep  the  roots  on  higher  soil,  and  improve 
the  texture  and  quality  of  the  crop.  The  texture  of  the 
soil  should  be  changed,  by  judicious  methods  of  cropping, 
manuring  and  culture,  making  it  more  loamy,  and  less 
retentive  of  moisture." 

Mr.  Whitney's  investigations  in  Pennsylvania  con- 
firm the  foregoing  statements.  The  soils  which  contain 
much  silt  and  clay  also  contain  much  water,  and  pioduce 
a  heavy,  dark  leaf.  These  conditions  should  be  realized 
by  planters.  When  the  fashion  calls  for  light  cigars, 
they  should  cultivate  only  lighter  soils,  and  use  their 
heavy  land  for  other  crops.  When  dark  wrappers  are 
in  demand,  the  heavy  soils  should  be  devoted  to  this 
crop.  Our  own  experience  and  observation  confirms 
Mr.  Whitney's  views.  This  is  also  true,  in  a  general 
way,  of  the  tobacco  lands  of  New  York,  the  Miami  val- 
ley and  Wisconsin.  In  all  these  localities  an  "old"  soil 
which,  by  cropping,  has  been  freed  from  its  original 


CULTURE  OF  CIGAR  LEAF.  407 

growth  and,  perhaps,  rank  vegetable  matter,  is  preferred 
for  cigar  leaf. 

Rotation  of  Crops. — The  present  practice  among 
growers  of  the  best  quality  of  cigar  leaf  iu  the  Connecti- 
cut and  Housatonic  valleys,  is  to  select  the  land  most 
suitable  for  the  crop,  and  continue  growing  tobacco 
upon  it  year  after  year.  There  are  several  reasons  for 
this  practice,  as  stated  by  Frye,  Sanderson,  Andross 
and  others. 

In  the  first  place,  tobacco  is  so  sensitive  to  the  influ- 
ence of  fertilizers,  or  to  an  accumulation  of  vegetable 
matter  in  the  soil,  as  to  raise  serious  objections  to  any 
rotation.  It  is  claimed  by  growers  of  highest  experi- 
ence, that  tobacco  fields  need  long  and  careful  prepara- 
tion to  get  into  a  condition  that  will  yield  a  large  crop 
with  a  perfect  burn,  thin  leaf,  bright  and  light  colors. 
The  manuring  and  treatment  of  the  soils  which  may  be 
best  for  other  crops,  may  be  objectionable  for  tobacco. 
The  lower  grades  and  cheaper  forms  of  commercial  fer- 
tilizers used  for  corn,  grass,  potatoes,  etc.,  usually  con- 
tain chlorine,  salt  and  other  substances  that  would  have 
a  bad  effect  on  tobacco,  directly  following  such  a  crop 
in  a  rotation. 

The  form  in  which  potash  is  used  is  especially  im- 
portant. An  oversupply  of  potash  is  not  exhausted  in 
one  season,  but  apparently  remains  in  the  soil  until 
taken  out  by  successive  crops.  As  the  onion  is  a  large 
potash  feeder,  and  also  responds  to  delicate  feeding,  it  is 
probably  the  best  crop  to  alternate  with  tobacco.  Ash 
rich  in  potash  is  usually  employed  on  onions,  either  in 
the  form  of  carbonate  of  potash,  or  chemical  fertilizers, 
supplying  it  iu  the  form  of  high  grade  sulphate.  The 
close  culture  of  an  onion  field  also  assists  in  improving 
its  mechanical  and  uniform  condition,  and  in  other  ways 
assists  in  preparing  the  soil  for  tobacco.  Potatoes  are 
also  good  potash  feeders,  but  it  is  not  safe  to  use  them 


408  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

on  tobacco  land,  unless  we  are  positive  that  the  fertilizer 
used  furnishes  the  potash  in  the  form  of  high  grade  sul- 
phate, as  the  muriate  of  potash,  or  lower  grade  potash, 
salts  usually  have  a  deleterious  effect  upon  the  quality 
of  tobacco.  A  crop  of  turnips  may  be  grown  on  tobacco 
fields  the  same  season  to  advantage,  provided  the  tops 
and  small  turnips  are  plowed  under  at  the  last  moment 
possible  before  freezing  up.  Spinach  or  beet  greens  can 
be  grown  to  advantage  before  tobacco  plants  are  set  in 
the  spring,  as  working  the  soil  for  them  assists  in  put- 
ting it  in  good  mechanical  condition,  without  drawing 
upon  its  elements  of  fertility  to  any  appreciable  extent. 

Tobacco  grown  continuously  on  the  same  land, 
richly  manured  year  after  year,  is  in  danger  of  contain- 
ing too  much  potash  or  magnesia  after  a  while.  In  such 
cases,  and  as  a  corrective  of  the  soil,  seeding  to  grass  is 
the  method  now  preferred.  A  liberal  quantity  of  grass 
seed  and  clover  seed  is  used,  and  the  soil  is  so  rich  that 
a  tremendous  stand  of  grass  is  obtained,  which  is  usually 
mowed  twice  the  first  year,  but  the  second  year,  imme- 
diately after  the  first  mowing,  the  sod  is  turned  under 
with  a  shallow  plow,  the  field  being  again  more  deeply 
plowed  just  before  the  ground  freezes.  It  is  then  kept 
in  tobacco  for  several  years,  according  to  the  quality  of 
the  crop.  If  the  land  is  used  for  corn  or  potatoes,  such 
crops  should  be  followed  by  oats  or  rye  before  the  field 
is  used  for  tobacco.  The  oat  or  rye  stubble  is  turned 
under  shallow  immediately  after  the  grain  is  cut,  and  is 
again  plowed  deeply  in  the  fall,  the  same  as  for  grass. 
This  leaves  the  land  in  better  condition  for  the  tobacco 
crop  than  if  it  were  set  immediately  after  corn  or  pota- 
toes. Grass  can  also  follow  the  latter  crops  before  to- 
bacco is  planted. 

In  central  and  southern  New  York,  rotation  of 
crops  for  tobacco  is  still  practiced  to  a  large  extent,  but 
the  best  growers  are  rapidly  coming  to  adopt  the  Connect- 


CULTURE   OF  CIGAR  LEAF.  409 

icut  practice  on  this  point.  Tobacco  has  been  produced 
011  the  same  piece  of  land  in  Onondaga  county,  N.  Y.,  for 
nearly  forty  successive  years,  yet  the  fields,  of  late  years, 
have  averaged  nearly  twice  as  much  per  acre  as  on  newer 
lands,  properly  manured  and  cared  for,  while  the  quality 
is  all  that  could  be  expected.  Pennsylvania  experience 
is  much  along  the  same  line,  and  in  Wisconsin  tobacco 
is  more  and  more  grown  upon  old  land. 

Preparation  of  the  soil. — This  begins  "the  year 
before."  Fall  plowing  is  essential  to  the  best  results. 
Tobacco  needs  almost  as  deep  and  thoroughly  pulverized 
soil  as  does  the  sugar  beet.  Many  of  the  best  growers 
prefer  to  plow  under  a  grass  sod  as  soon  as  the  hay  crop 
is  secured,  plowing  as  shallow  as  possible,  and  have  the 
sward  well  turned  under.  Another  plowing  to  the  full 
depth,  just  before  the  ground  freezes  up,  will  do  much 
to  prevent  trouble  from  cutworms.  Manure  may  be 
plowed  under  in  fall  or  spring.  Thorough  spring  plow- 
ing is  to  be  insisted  upon.  Some  growers  practice  run- 
ning a  subsoil  plow  in  the  furrow  after  the  fall  plowing, 
especially  on  soils  liable  to  drouth.  Probably  the  better 
plan,  with  stable  manure,  tobacco  stalks,  and  similar 
bulky  material,  is  to  spread  it  broadcast  in  the  fall  or 
early  winter,  to  be  plowed  under  in  the  early  spring. 
All  forms  of  vegetable  fertilizer,  such  as  cottonseed  meal, 
linseed  meal,  etc.,  are  broadcasted  and  harrowed  in  about 
two  weeks  before  the  time  of  setting  plants,  but  long 
before  this  the  soil  has  been  wheel-harrowed  after  the 
spring  plowing,  and  cross-harrowed  with  a  fine-tooth 
harrow. 

Varieties,  and  Other  Points. — Manuring  and  ferti- 
lization have  already  been  exhaustively  treated  in  Chap- 
ters VI  and  XVIII,  which  should  be  carefully  studied. 
The  whole  subject  of  varieties,  seed  and  seedbeds,  plants 
and  transplanting,  pests,  etc.,  are  covered  in  the  chap- 
ters on  those  subjects.  Formerly,  Connecticut  broad- 


410  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

leaf,  or  some  of  its  sub-varieties,  was  generally  grown 
throughout  the  cigar-leaf  sections  of  the  North,  but  now 
its  place  has  been  quite  generally  taken  by  domesticated 
Cuban  or  Havana  seed  tobacco,  several  strains  or  sub- 
varieties  of  which  are  used  in  different  localities.  Tiie 
way  in  which  this  variety  has  supplanted  the  old  broad- 
leaf  is  a  marked  instance  of  the  change  that  may  come 
to  even  the  oldest  agricultural  industry.  At  present, 
the  broadleaf  is  grown  in  perfection  mainly  in  a  limited 
section  about  East  Hartford  and  Windsor  in  the  Connec- 
ticut valley,  where  about  2000  acres  are  annually  devoted 


FIG.   116.     GOSLEE'S    RIDGER  AND    MARKER. 

Made  by  the  Belcher  &  Taylor  Agricultural  Tool  Co.,  Chicopee  Falls,  Mass. 

to  it.  Where  plants  are  set  by  hand,  the  Goslee  ridger 
(Fig.  116)  is  often  used.  Its  wings  gather  the  earth 
into  a  ridge,  with  the  fertilizers  that  are  spread  broad- 
cast for  starting  the  plant.  The  smoothing  plate  that 
the  machine  rides  on  smooths  the  ridges,  and  the  wheel 
with  the  points  partly  makes  the  holes  for  the  plants, 
and  spaces  them  off. 

Doctor  Daroczi,  editor  of  the  Hungarian  Tobacco 
Gazette,  of  Budapest,  has  propagated  tobacco  from  slips, 
and  claims  that  the  leaves  harvested  from  such  propa- 
gated plants  are  finer  and  of  higher  quality  than  those 


CULTTJKE  OF  CIGAE  LEAF.  411 

of  the  mother  plant.  We  find,  upon  inquiry,  however, 
that  he  has  made  only  a  few  pot  experiments.  His 
claims  have  led  to  some  discussion  in  Germany  and 
Austro-Hungary,  during  which  numerous  instances  have 
been  reported  of  tobacco  plants  from  three  to  seven  years 
old.  These  plants  were  wintered  in  a  greenhouse,  the 
seven-year-old  plant  measuring  six  yards  in  hight  and 
seven  and  one-half  inches  around  the  stem.  Mr.  Wal- 
lensick,  of  Buende,  possesses  a  cane  made  of  the  stem  of 
a  five-year-old  plant.  In  another  case,  new  and  vigorous 
plants  started  with  independent  roots  from  pieces  of  old 
root,  this  being  really  propagation  by  layering,  the  same 
as  for  grapevines. 

Every  practical  tobacco  grower  in  America,  how- 
ever, is  familiar  with  the  second  growth  of  suckers  that 
comes  up  from  old  stalks  after  a  mild  winter,  or  that 
grows  after  the  harvest  if  the  fall  is  favorable.  Col. 
Killebrew  has  studied  this  point  in  Mexico,  where  to- 
bacco is  perennial,  but  even  to  make  good  leaf  in  that 
country  no  reliance  can  be  placed  upon  suckers  coming 
from  the  principle  stalk.  Whether  it  will  ever  be  feasi- 
ble to  propagate  by  slips  or  layers,  remains  to  be  demon- 
strated. Until  this  is  proven,  we  must  sow  the  seed, 
raise  the  plants,  and  set  them  out  with  all  their  original 
vitality,  in  order  to  make  good  tobacco  of  any  variety. 
In  Cuba  and  southern  Florida,  a  second,  and  even  a 
third,  crop  of  fillers  may  be  obtained  from  a  single  sucker 
left  at  the  first  and  second  cuttings  of  the  crop. 

Opinions  differ  about  distance  to  set  tobacco.  In 
New  England,  Havana  seed  is  usually  planted  in  rows 
three  or  three  and  one-fourth  feet  apart,  and  plants  12 
to  18  inches  apart  in  the  row.  For  Connecticut  broad- 
leaf  and  all  varieties  of  the  larger  domestic  seedleaf,  rows 
are  usually  three  and  one-half  feet  apart,  with  18  inches 
between  plants  in  the  row.  The  object  of  having  the 
plants  closer  in  the  row  is  to  get  a  very  thin  leaf,  but 


412  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

when  set  only  12  or  15  inches  apart,  this  thing  is  apt  to 
be  overdone,  and  the  leaf  is  likely  to  be  too  thin  and 
very  liable  to  damage  when  curing,  especially  if  unfa- 
vorable weather  occurs.  Broadleaf  or  seedleaf,  being 
used  mostly  for  binders,  must  be  thin,  and  hence  is  set 
about  18  inches  apart,  but  in  former  times,  before  the 
trade  was  so  particular  for  thin  leaf,  these  varieties  were 
set  26  to  30  inches  in  the  row.  Now,  if  it  is  desired  to 
get  the  most  wrapper  leaves  in  a  crop,  plants  are  set  18 
to  20  inches  for  Havana  seed,  and  22  to  24  inches  apart 
in  the  row  for  broadleaf,  as  a  general  rule  among  planters 
who  manure  heavily  and  who  are  disappointed  in  much 
less  than  one  ton  of  cured  leaf  per  acre.  Formerly  the 
rows  were  four  feet  apart  for  Connecticut  broadleaf,  but 
three  and  one-half  feet  is  now  the  almost  universal  rule 
throughout  Pennsylvania,  New  York  and  Wisconsin, 
with  the  plants  about  the  distance  apart  just  mentioned. 
Cultivation. — Abundance  of  manure  does  not  re- 
move the  necessity  of  thorough  cultivation.  Crops 
often  need  such  treatment  very  badly  where  there  are  no 
weeds  at  all.  The  soil  should  be  kept  pulverized  and 
loosened  to  as  great  a  depth  as  possible  without  injury 
to  the  roots  of  the  plant,  particularly  in  the  early  stages 
of  growth.  The  tobacco  crop  especially  needs  thorough 
cultivation,  not  so  much  with  the  hoe  as  with  the  culti- 
vator, or  with  other  labor-saving  machines,  care  being 
taken  to  use  only  those  machines,  as  the  crop  advances, 
that  do  their  work  without  injury  to  the  fibrous  roots, 
or,  in  other  words,  which  cut  deepest  in  the  center  of 
the  row  and  work  closer  to  the  surface  near  the  plant. 
When  plants  are  set  by  machine,  an  attachment  can  be 
affixed  that  will  act  as  a  cultivator,  thus  killing  any 
weeds  that  may  be  starting.  It  is  well  to  go  over  the 
field  in  a  few  days  with  a  hand  hoe  and  gently  loosen 
the  earth  around  and  between  the  plants.  It  is  the 
glory  of  the  thrifty  planter,  not  to  allow  a  weed  to  be 


CULTURE   OF   CIGAR   LEAF.  413 

seen  in  his  tobacco  patch,  and  this  is  carried  out  to  the 
greatest  perfection  in  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania. 
As  tobacco  is  grown  solely  for  the  leaf,  great  care  should 
be  taken  in  the  later  cultivation  that  no  injury  be  done 
to  the  leaves.  When  land  has  been  thoroughly  culti- 
vated, the  weeds  are  entirely  eliminated  in  the  early 
part  of  the  season,  and  the  plant  so  shades  the  ground, 
in  its  later  stage  of  growth,  that  weeds  cannot  flourish. 
Within  a  week  from  the  first,  light  hoeing,  a  culti- 
vator, set  narrow,  should  be  run  between  the  rows  and 
run  deeply,  for  too  much  care  cannot  be  taken  to 


FIG.  117.     PROUT'S  HOEING    MACHINE. 

For  tobacco  and  other  crops  requiring  close  culture.  It  can  be  ii'ed  with  one  or 
two  horses.  When  the  ground  is  level  and  you  wish  to  keep  it  so,  run  th«v 
hoes  even,  but  if  you  wish  to  ridge,  the  hoes  can  be  fitted  to  the  desired  angle. 
It  can  be  adjusted  so  as  to  hoe  the  most  delicate  plants  without  injury,  and  to 
any  width  of  row.  It  is  made  by  the  Belcher  &  Taylor  Agricultural  Tool  Co., 
of  Chicopee  Falls,  Mass. 

keep  the  under  soil  mellow.  A  good  stirring  of  the  soil 
at  this  time  is  desirable,  pulverizing,  admitting  light 
and  air  and  leaving  it  in  a  condition  more  favorable  to 
the  plant.  It  is  well  to  go  over  the  field  a  week  later 
with  the  hand  hoe,  to  destroy  any  weeds  missed  by  the 
cultivator.  If  the  right  tools  are  used,  horse  labor  can 
be  employed  very  largely  in  cultivation,  and  this  is  com- 
ing to  be  the  practice  throughout  the  cigar-leaf  regions, 
and  with  great  benefit  to  the  crop,  as  well  as  saving  to 
the  planter.  A  favorite  implement  with  New  England 


414  TOBACCO    LEAF. 

and  New  York  planters  is  Prout's  hoeing  machine, 
Fig.  117,  which  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  this  crop.  Of 
course,  other  cultivators  and  horse  hoes  are  used,  but 
this  is  considered  one  of  the  best. 

With  seedleaf,  it  is  a  rule  to  draw  the  dirt  towards 
the  plant  at  the  second  hoeing,  so  as  to  hill  it  a  very 
little.  The  cultivator  may  be  run  between  the  rows  to 
advantage  five  or  six  times,  but  do  not  commit  the  error 
of  using  it  too  late,  for  it  is  quite  certain  that  after  the 
plant  is  half  grown,  the  cultivator  does  more  harm  than 
good  by  disturbing  the  roots,  and  the  roots  of  seedleaf 
reach  out  further  from  the  plant  than  do  the  roots  of 
Havana.  When  tobacco  is  ready  to  top,  the  roots  are 
too  much  developed  to  permit  cultivating.  All  the 
later  culture  that  is  needed — the  cutting  down  of  weeds 
in  the  row — can  be  better  done  with  the  hand  hoe. 
Some  growers,  who  believe  in  "feeding  high,"  sow  100 
to  300  pounds  per  acre  in  the  rows  just  before  the 
second  cultivation. 

Havana  seed  requires  considerable  more  hilling  than 
seedleaf,  because  it  tips  over  more  readily.  The  first 
hilling  should  be  the  same,  but  at  the  second  cultivating 
hill  up  decidedly  more  than  for  seedleaf.  When  the 
ridger  has  been  used  in  preparing  the  land,  a  hiller, 
such  as  is  attached  to  some  cultivators,  can  be  used 
advantageously,  or  one  can  be  made  readily  as  follows  : 
Take  a  board,  five  inches  wide  and  two  feet  long, 
sharpen  to  a  point  from  a  distance  of  one  foot  from  the 
apex.  Upon  each  side  of  the  edge  nail  a  piece  of  barrel 
stave,  two  and  one-half  feet  long  and  five  inches  wide, 
making  the  upper  edge  even  with  the  top  of  the  wedge ; 
make  a  hole  near  the  apex,  and  fasten  to  the  middle 
piece  of  a  common  cultivator  between  the  horse-hoe 
teeth,  leaving  the  cutter  turned  out.  At  a  third  culti- 
vation, this  same  hiller  can  again  be  used  to  advantage, 
but  place  a  four-inch  block  upon  the  point  of  the  hiller, 


CULTURE   OF  CIGAR  LEAF.  415 

so  that  it  will  take  the  dirt  from  the  middle  of  the  row, 
and  build  up  the  ridges  still  more.  The  hiller  will  not 
be  found  desirable  where  the  ridger  has  not  been  used, 
as  it  will  "hill"  too  much. 

When  the  ground  has  been  fitted  by  hand,  use  a 
common  cultivator  with  the  horse-hoe  teeth  turned  out 
at  the  second  hoeing ;  the  amount  of  hilling  can  be  reg- 
ulated, of  course,  by  the  operator.  At  the  third  culti- 
vation you  can  narrow  the  cultivator,  bear  a  trifle 
harder  on  the  handles,  run  the  hoe  teeth  a  little  deeper, 
and  then  hill  still  more.  When  Havana  stands  up,  the 
leaves  do  not  lop  towards  the  ground  as  much  as  do 
those  of  the  seedleaf  plant ;  consequently  it  can  be  cul- 
tivated later  without  danger  of  the  horse  stepping  on  the 
leaves.  The  shorter  roots  of  the  Havana  also  admit  of 
later  cultivation  by  horse  power  than  is  practicable,  or 
desirable,  with  seedleaf. 

Management  of  the  Crop.  —  Where  the  stand  is 
uneven,  it  always  pays  to  reset  with  good  plants  and 
water  them  carefully.  Sometimes  plants  are  tipped 
over  by  heavy  rains  when  the  ground  is  soft.  All  such 
plants  should  be  set  up  again  and  the  earth  firmed  about 
them.  Many  prudent  growers,  while  setting  out  their 
plants,  provide  an  extra  one  here  and  there — sometimes 
as  often  as  every  other  hill  in  every  tenth  or  twelfth 
row — so  as  to  have  stock  at  hand  to  reset  in  place  of 
plants  that  have  died,  or  that  are  eaten  by  worms,  or 
cut  by  careless  hoeing.  If  a  good  body  of  earth  is  taken 
up  with  such  plants,  they  can  be  set  up  in  the  vacant 
spaces  even  when  fully  a  foot  high.  If  the  weather  is 
favorable,  these  transplanted  plants  will  quickly  thrive  ; 
if  it  is  hot  and  dry,  they  wilt  at  first,  but  will  usually 
straighten  up  nearly  as  well  as  those  that  have  not  been 
moved.  This  near-at-hand  transplanting  is  much  more 
desirable  at  this  late  day  than  any  transfer  from 
distant  tobacco  beds,  as  the  roots  are  less  disturbed  and 


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CULTUEE  OF   CIGAE   LEAF.  417 

the  chances  of  success  greater,  and  the  plant  has  already 
had  a  better  growth.  In  some  cases,  Havana  is  toppled 
over  so  that  it  does  not  show  badly  at  first  and  will  soon 
hold  up  its  head,  but  neglect,  even  in  such  cases,  results 
in  crooked  stalks,  which  do  not  hang  so  well  on  the 
poles  and  by  contact  increase  liability  to  pole  sweat. 
Beside,  such  leaf  will  not  strip  as  well,  or  sell  as  well, 
as  if  it  had  been  promptly  straightened  up.  Usually, 
this  trouble  occurs  before  or  about  the  time  of  topping ; 
after  the  plant  has  been  topped,  it  stands  up  firmer. 
Should  any  plant  have  its  center  bud  broken,  or  eaten 
off,  early  in  the  season,  it  will  come  up  with  several 
suckers,  or  sprouts,  and  will  not  amount  to  much  ;  such 
plants  should  be  replaced,  if  not  too  late. 

Priming. — This  consists  in  pulling  off  the  bottom 
leaves,  to  the  number  of  four  or  five.  Any  plant,  large 
enough  to  top,  ought  to  be  primed  first,  and  a  general 
rule  is  not  to  prime  until  the  plant  is  ready  to  top 
also.  Many  good  growers  "omit  this  process  altogether, 
although  by  that  plan  they  increase  the  class  called 
"lugs,"  and  lighten  the  weight  of  the  better  leaves. 

Topping. — As  to  when  and  how  much  to  top  (see 
Fig.  86,  Page  294),  there  is  a  large  difference  of  opinion 
and  practice.  Some  begin  as  soon  as  a  majority  of  the 
plants  in  a  field  have  budded,  and  thus  go  over  the 
ground  a  second  time.  Others  make  it  a  rule  to  wait 
until  a  majority  of  the  plants  have  blossomed,  with  the 
idea  of  finishing  the  job  at  one  time  as  far  as  possible. 
A  feeble  plant  will  do  better  if  topped  low,  so  that  it 
will  have  comparatively  few  leaves  mature.  But  whether 
cigar -leaf  plants  in  general  should  be  topped  high,  or 
low,  is  a  disputed  point.  Those  who  advocate  low  top- 
ping claim  they  get  lower  leaves  thereby ;  on  the  other 
hand,  the  high  toppers  say  the  leaves  thus  obtained, 
although  large,  are  coarse ;  immense  in  quantity,  but 
not  superior  in  quality.  With  high  topping,  it  is 
27 


418  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

claimed  the  grower  secures  not  only  more  wrappers,  but 
more  total  weight.  Every  grower  must  decide,  from  the 
condition  of  the  growing  crop,  how  high  or  low  to  top. 

Suckering. — The  natural  inclination  of  the  plant  to 
propagate  itself  through  the  formation  of  the  seed,  is 
intercepted  by  topping,  but  the  plant  at  once  attempts 
to  repair  the  damage.  In  a  few  days,  say  five  or  seven, 
suckers,  or  shoots,  begin  to  appear  at  the  junction  of  the 
leaf  with  the  parent  stem.  When  three  or  four  inches 
long,  they  must  be  pinched  off.  As  in  topping,  this 
must  be  done  with  thumb  and  fingers,  to  prevent  the 
too  copious  exudation  of  the  sap.  Cigar-leaf  tobacco 
usually  requires  suckering  but  twice  ;  at  first,  about  half 
way  down,  and  the  second  time  clean  from  top  to  bot- 
tom. Unless  removed  when  young  and  tender,  they 
grow  hard  and  fibrous  and  must  be  removed  with  a 
knife,  which  results  in  severe  bleeding.  In  suckering, 
as  in  topping,  the  utmost  care  must  be  taken  not  to 
break  or  injure  the  leaves.  If  the  leaves  are  found 
turned  up  by  the  wind,  or  any  other  cause,  they  should 
be  put  into  their  natural  position,  for  the  sun  has  a  bad 
effect  upon  the  underside,  often  scorching,  or  blister- 
ing it.  Many  otherwise  careful  growers  neglect  to 
properly  "sucker,"  especially  in  Pennsylvania  and  Wis- 
consin, to  the  serious  detriment  of  the  crop. 

Ripening. — In  the  course  of  two  or  three  weeks 
after  topping,  the  plants  will  begin  to  ripen,  which  may 
be  known  by  the  change  in  the  color  of  the  leaf.  It  will 
look  spotted  with  spots  of  a  lighter,  yellowish  green. 
When  fully  ripe,  the  leaf  may  be  folded  and  consider- 
ably pressed  without  breaking.  This  is  the  time  to  har- 
vest. It  is  well  to  let  the  crop  stand,  if  not  fully  ripe, 
as  long  as  it  can  safely  be  done,  for  the  cool  nights  have 
a  tendency  to  thicken  the  leaf,  or  give  it  more  "body," 
without  interfering  with  its  quality  in  other  respects. 
Many,  however,  prefer  to  cut  as  soon  as  ripe,  and  get  it 


CULTURE   OF   CIGAR  LEAF.  419 

safely  housed  and  out  of  danger  from  frost  and  hail. 
It  certainly  is  a  great  temptation  to  cut  before  it  has 
been  touched  by  hail,  frost,  rust,  or  any  other  disease. 
It  is  true  that  tobacco  affected  by  any  of  these  things  is 
nearly  worthless,  but  the  same  is  also  true  of  plants  cut 
too  early.  Such  tobacco  is  almost  sure  to  pole  sweat 
and  then  it  is  gone,  anyway,  and  even  if  the  leaf  does 
escape,  it  is  thin  and  lacking  in  weight  and  is  also  liable 
to  white  veins.  A  rule  which  was  in  force  years  ago,  to 
cut  only  such  plants  as  were  thoroughly  ripe,  hunting 
them  out  for  the  purpose  and  leaving  the  unripe  ones 
to  stand  some  days  longer,  is  still  a  good  one.  This 
is  especially  applicable  to  all  plants  grown  in  wet 
spots,  for  these  do  not  mature  as  early  as  those  in  dry 
places. 

Some  experienced  growers  maintain  that  there  is  a 
certain  date  when  tobacco  is  ripe,  and  that  if  allowed  to 
stand  after  this  date  it  deteriorates  in  color  and  quality. 
When  tobacco,  for  lack  of  fertilizers,  or  for  any  other 
reason,  turns  yellow,  or  fades,  and  the  plant  neither 
ripens  nor  grows,  the  longer  it  stands  the  more  it  deteri- 
orates in  value  and  quality  and  shrinks  in  quantity,  and 
the  sooner  such  fields  are  cut  the  better.  No  precise 
rule  can  be  given  as  to  when  tobacco  is  ripe.  Some  say 
that  seedleaf  will  ripen  in  from  ten  days  to  three  weeks 
after  topping,  and  Havana  in  about  three  weeks,  but, 
generally,  Havana  should  stand  quite  four  weeks,  though 
it  will,  of  course,  depend  on  the  weather  and  plants ;  if 
it  is  wet,  tobacco  won't  ripen  as  quickly  as  when  dry. 
Some  fertilizers  will  keep  the  plant  fresh,  green  and 
growing  longer  than  others.  Tobacco  cut  before  fully 
ripe  may  look  nice  before  going  tli rough  the  sweat,  but 
when  it  comes  out,  it  is  tender  and  will  make  but  few 
wrappers,  to  say  nothing  of  the  greater  liability  to  pole 
sweat.  The  green  cut  leaf  may  cure  off  darker,  but  it 
is  not  so  well  filled  out,  is  not  so  smooth  and  fine,  and 


420 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


CULTURE  OF  CIGAR  LEAF.  421 

will  not  bring  as  high  price  as  the  ripe  leaf  when 
properly  cured. 

Harvesting. — Cutting  tobacco  in  the  Northern  cigar- 
leaf  States  usually  begins  about  the  middle  of  August, 
and  continues,  as  the  plant  arrives  at  maturity,  through 
the  month  of  September,  but  it  may  begin  and  end  con- 
siderably earlier  or  later,  according  to  the  season.  The 
plants,  when  grown  upon  warm,  sandy  soils,  mature 
from  one  to  two  weeks  earlier  than  when  upon  dark 
soils.  Cut  from  the  time  the  dew  is  nearly  off  the 
ground  until  three  o'clock,  when  all  plants  must  be  cut 
down  at  once  which  are  to  be  hauled  that  day.  Do  not 
leave  any  out  over  night  if  possible.  On  the  other  hand, 
take  care  that  too  much  is  not  cut  when  the  sun  is  so 
hot  as  to  sunburn  the  leaves.  Such  leaves  will  not 
cure,  but  are  always  green.  Don't  cut  when  there  is 
danger  of  frost,  because  it  will  have  a  serious  effect  on 
wilted  tobacco,  whereas  it  might  not  injure  the  growing 
leaf  at  all.  The  plants  should  be  put  into  the  shed  as 
soon  after  cutting  as  can  be  done  without  breaking  the 
leaves.  It  must  be  wilted  somewhat  to  be  handled  com- 
fortably. If  wilted  too  much,  the  leaves  will  stick 
together  and  then  will  never  cure  well.  After  one  side 
is  wilted,  the  cut  plant  should  be  turned  over  so  that 
the  other  side  may  wilt.  Some  prefer  a  cloudy  day  for 
cutting,  as  the  plants  are  less  liable  to  sunburn. 

In  cutting,  the  stalk  is  grasped  with  the  left  hand, 
bent  over  to  the  left  until  the  bottom  of  the  stalk  is 
exposed,  and  is  then  cut  off  close  to  the  ground  with 
one  blow  of  a  hatchet,  or  cleaver.  Some,  however,  pre- 
fer to  saw  it  off  with  a  handsaw.  In  Pennsylvania  and 
Wisconsin,  a  kind  of  shears  is  now  commonly  used,  the 
long  handles  of  which  give  a  leverage  that  easily  cuts  off 
the  stoutest  plant.  Let  the  stalk  drop  over  on  the 
ground,  without  doubling  the  leaves  under ;  lay  the 
plants  at  right  angles  to  the  row  with  the  butts  all  one 


422  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

way ;  those  from  the  next  row  should  be  laid  with  the 
butts  towards  those  of  the  first  row,  and  so  proceed 
until  all  is  cut  that  can  be  attended  to.  Some  think  a 
better  way  is  to  lay  them  down  lengthwise  with  the  row 
itself,  lapping  them  partly  over  each  other,  as  the  plant 
does  not  have  to  be  moved  out  of  the  row  and  there  is 
not  so  much  danger  of  injuring  the  leaves. 

The  practice  of  scaffolding  in  the  field,  once  almost 
universal,  has  been  largely  discontinued  throughout  the 
cigar-leaf  States.  A  -majority  of  farmers  now  carry  the 
plants  directly  to  the  barn  without  any  previous  wilting, 
save  what  is  possible  while  lying  on  the  ground  awhile. 
On  scaffolds,  heavy  rains  will  wash  off  more  or  less  of 
the  gum.  Even  those  who  follow  the  practice  seldom 
leave  the  stalks  on  the  scaffold  longer  than  three  days. 

The  simplest  convenience  for  transporting  to  the 
barn  is  the  best,  as  illustrated  and  described  in  Part  II. 
If  the  plants  are  to  be  strung  on  poles  in  the  barn,  the 
old  way,  substitute  for  the  wagon  body  a  long,  flat  rack, 
upon  which  load  the  plants  from  each  side,  butts  out, 
letting  the  tips  overlap  each  other  alternately  in  the 
center.  Load  regularly  and  evenly,  care  being  taken 
not  to  break  or  damage  the  leaves  in  handling.  Four 
or  five  hundred  plants  may  be  carried  at  a  load.  If  the 
day  is  very  hot,  drive  to  the  shed  rapidly,  or  the  load 
may  heat,  especially  if  the  distance  is  long.  All  large 
sheds  should  be  provided  with  wagon  doors  so  that  a 
team  can  drive  directly  in.  IE  the  weather  is  hot,  the 
plants  should  be  laid  on  the  ground  floor,  only 
one  plant  deep.  If  the  day  is  cool  and  they  are  to  be 
hung  up  soon,  they  may  lie  much  thicker.  The  doors 
are  left  open  until  the  tobacco  is  thoroughly  wilted  and 
the  leaves  lie  straight,  when  it  is  strung  and  hung. 

The  wagon  rack,  in  Fig.  119,  is  very  simple.  An 
independent  rack  in  forward  holds  up  two  upright 
posts,  which  are  framed  on  top  to  two  4x6  timbers,  28 


CULTUKE   OF   CIGAR  LEAF. 


423 


it 


424  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

to  32  feet  long.  Crosspieces,  3J  feet  apart,  and  strongly 
braced,  extend  well  over  the  sides.  Upon  these  the  lath 
full  of  plants  is  placed,  the  rack  being  just  high  enough 
to  allow  this  to  be  done  without  stretching,  and  still 
have  the  plants  clear  the  ground.  Low,  wide  wheels 
are  better  than  common  wagon  wheels,  hence  the  pop- 
ularity of  the  wagon  shown  in  Fig.  91. 

Hanging  Cigar  Leaf. — There  are  two  ways  of  hang- 
ing, with  twine  and  with  lath,  and  each  has  its 
advocates.  The  latter  way  is  the  cheaper  and  requires 
the  least  help,  but  many  still  think  hanging  by  twine  is, 
on  the  whole,  the  fastest  and  best  way.  But  if  the  barn 
is  very  high,  it  is  cheaper  to  hang  the  upper  tiers  with 
lath,  because  it  would  need  so  much  help  to  hang  with 
twine.  The  difference  in  different  years,  and  with  dif- 
ferent crops,  accounts  largely  for  the  difference  in 
opinion  in  regard  to  the  methods  of  hanging.  Don't 
hang  it  too  thick,  30  to  34  Havana  plants  on  a  12-foot 
pole  is  about  right  for  twine.  Be  careful  not  to  have 
the  poles  too  close  together.  Ten  poles  in  15  feet  is 
close  enough,  and  there  will  be  less  danger  of  pole  sweat 
than  if  thicker.  Don't  hang  tobacco  while  wet,  because 
it  will  pole  sweat  more  readily,  and  besides,  more  dirt 
sticks  to  it. '  A  wet  leaf  won't  cure  off  quite  so  nice, 
smooth  and  pliable  as  when  hung  dry. 

The  new  way,  which  is  in  use  in  the  Connecticut 
valley,  is  to  hang  on  laths,  about  twice  the  thickness  of 
ordinary  laths  such  as  are  used  for  plastering.  The 
laths  are  four  feet  long,  to  carry  four  to  six  plants,  as  to 
their  size.  Some  put  a  spear  head  on  end  of  lath,  run 
it  through  butt  of  plant,  about  six  inches  from  the  end, 
and  then  slide  plant  onto  lath.  For  this  purpose,  the 
lath  is  held  in  a  hurdle,  as  shown  in  Fig.  120.  A  better 
plan — because  quicker,  and  requiring  less  handling  and 
less  injury,  or  danger,  to  plants — is  to  attach  hooks  to 
the  lath,  on  which  to  hang  the  plants.  For  this  pur- 


CULTURE  OF  CIGAR  LEAF.  425 

pose  use  lath  five-eighths  inch  thick,  one  and  five-eighths 
inch  wide  and  four  feet  long.  On  one  side  put  in  a 
hook  six  inches  from  the  end,  and  two  more  fourteen 
inches  apart ;  do  the  same  on  the  other  side,  alternating, 
and  the  lath  contains  six  hooks  about  seven  inches 
apart,  to  hang  as  many  plants.  Make  some  with  only 
four  hooks  for  the  biggest  plants.  The  hooks  may  be 
like  a,  Fig.  106,  or  simply  drive  wire  nails  at  an  angle 
through  the  lath.  The  hooked  lath  is  held  in  a  stand- 
ard (shown  at  left  in  Fig.  ll9),  while  the  plants  are 
being  hung  on  it.  If  the  plants  are  well  wilted  when 
thus  hung,  they  are  at  once  carted  to  the  barn  on  a 
rack,  or  rigging,  like  that  in  Figs.  118  or  120.  But  on 
a  cool  or  cloudy  day,  the  lath,  when  filled  with  plants, 
is  hung  on  a  rack  in  the  field,  until  wilted,  as  shown 
at  the  right  in  Fig.  119.  By  the  latter  plan,  harvesting 
can  proceed  in  bad  weather.  These  strung  laths  can  be 
quickly  hung  in  the  barn,  on  poles  about  four  feet  apart. 
Fill  upper  tiers  first,  lifting  to  them  by  using  a  pitchfork 
at  middle  of  lath.  Leave  space  enough  between  laths  in 
barn  for  air  to  circulate  freely ;  the  larger  the  plants, 
the  more  space. 

Curing. — See  Chapter  X  for  full  particulars. 

Stripping. — When  the  leaves  and  stems  are  com- 
pletely cured,  so  that  no  green  is  visible  in  the  leaf  and 
the  leaf  stems  are  dried  out,  the  tobacco  is  ready  to 
strip.  The  sooner  this  work  is  done,  the  better.  If  the 
colors  are  uneven,  they  will  become  as  near  uniform  in 
the  pile  after  it  is  stripped  as  by  hanging,  if  taken  down 
in  proper  condition  and  kept  so.  When  tobacco  is 
cured,  it  can  be  brought  into  condition  for  stripping  in 
any  damp  weather.  Watch  a  favorable  time,  when  it 
rains,  or  is  very  damp,  to  open  the  building  and  let  in 
the  damp  air,  until  the  tobacco  is  sufficiently  moistened 
to  be  handled  without  danger  of  breaking  the  leaves. 
A  leaf  of  good  body  and  strong  fiber  can  be  taken  down 


426 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


CULTURE  OF  CIGAR  LE^F.  427 

damper  than  thin,  or  papery,  leaf.  Early  in  the  season, 
it  should  not  be  taken  down  as  damp  as  is  required  later 
on.  A  good  rule  to  determine  when  it  is  in  proper  con- 
dition to  take  down,  is  to  clasp  the  leaves  near  the  tip 
of  the  plant  and  squeeze  tightly ;  when  the  pressure  is 
removed  and  they  expand  in  a  few  seconds  and  are 
stained  but  very  little,  the  crop  is  just  right  to  take 
down.  It  should  be  watched  while  dampening,  to  guard 
against  rain  driving  in  at  the  doors.  If  the  outside 
plants  get  wet,  or  too  damp,  hang  them  up  until  dried 
sufficiently. 

Make  a  floor  of  sawed  poles,  planks,  or  boards,  laid 
on  the  ground,  edge  to  edge,  and  pile  the  plants,  a  small 
armful  at  a  time,  about  two  feet  high.  The  pile  should 
be  made  with  the  butts  out  and  the  tips  in  and  over- 
lapping about  one-third  the  length.  This  should  be 
done  evenly,  in  layers,  so  that  no  leaves  may  hang  out 
and  get  dry,  and  thus  be  wasted.  If  the  stalks  are 
frozen,  do  not  take  down  until  the  dripping  stops,  as 
the  juice  will  stain  the  leaf.  The  sooner  it  is  stripped 
after  taking  down,  the  better,  as  the  leaves  are  liable  to 
stick  to  the  stalk  and  get  stained  and  be  torn  when 
stripped.  If  warm  weather  prevails,  the  plants  will 
soon  heat  after  taking  down,  and  they  should  be  exam- 
ined frequently.  On  the  first  indication  of  heating, 
carefully  lay  the  pile  over,  making  it  about  half  as  high 
as  before  and  let  it  lie  as  loose  as  possible.  Removing 
the  plants  from  the  lath  is  quite  a  task. 

A  common  way  to  take  plants  from  the  laths  is  for 
one  man  to  slip  the  plants  to  near  one  end  of  the  lath 
and  hold  them,  butts  up,  while  another  pulls  out  the 
lath.  One  man  can  strip  lath  alone  by  slipping  the 
plants  to  one  end  and  placing  one  foot  on  them  to  pull 
against.  Some  strip  the  upper  tier  of  lath  by  placing 
two  poles  two  inches  apart  on  the  first  tier,  shoving  the 
lath  through  from  above,  while  a  man  below  pulls  it  out. 


428  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

The  method  of  pulling  tobacco  from  lath  between  two 
short,  upright  sticks  has  been  long  in  occasional  use. 
In  case  of  large,  green  stalks  that  slip  hard,  it  saves 
labor. 

To  strip  a  plant,  hold  it  in  the  left  hand  by  the 
butt,  and  with  the  other  pull  off  all  the  bottom  leaves 
and  drop  them  in  a  pile  for  "fillers;"  next  take  off 
three  or  four  more,  or  until  the  best  leaves  are  reached, 
and  put  these  in  another  heap  f or  "  seconds ;"  then 
strip  off  the  remainder  for  wrappers,  except  such  as  are 
badly  worm-eaten,  or  otherwise  injured,  which  are,  of 
course,  of  a  poorer  quality.  Throw  the  stalk  away  and 
proceed  with  another.  When  a  sufficient  number  of 
leaves  of  one  grade  are  obtained  to  make  a  bundle,  they 
are  arranged  with  all  the  butts  even  at  one  end,  and 
then  bound  firmly  together  by  winding  a  leaf  around 
them  at  the  butt,  commencing  within  a  half  or  three- 
quarters  of  an  inch  from  the  end  and  winding  down 
smoothly  about  two  inches,  and  secure  the  end  of  the 
binder  by  slipping  it  through  the  leaves  and  pulling  it 
tightly  against  the  twist.  Much  of  the  value  of  tobacco 
depends  upon  the  manner  in  which  it  is  assorted  and 
done  up,  as  a  few  poor  leaves  in  a  parcel  would  make  a 
difference  of  several  cents  per  pound  in  the  price. 
None  but  good,  sound  leaves,  free  from  rust,  pole  sweat, 
frost,  or  large  holes,  should  go  into  the  best  quality. 
The  bundles  should  be  made  of  leaves  of  an  even  length, 
uniform  in  color  and  quality,  weighing  about  half  a 
pound.  Many  careful  growers  make  a  practice  of  wrap- 
ping the  bundles  in  manilla  paper,  36x40  inches  square. 
The  bundles  are  usually  36  inches  long  and  the  40 
inches  goes  around  the  bundle.  There  should  be  three 
strong  strings  around  each  bundle.  This  paper  keeps 
the  tobacco  clean  and  from  getting  dry.  In  this,  as  in 
everything  else,  neat  packages  pay  well.  The  same 
method  is  pursued  for  seconds  and  fillers.  Sometimes 


CULTUEE   OF  CIGAR  LEAF. 


42S 


FIG.  122.     PRESSING  OIGAK  LEAF  INTO  THE  CASE. 


430  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

leaves  are  found  with  green,  or  "fat,"  stems;  these 
should  not  be  included  in  the  bundle,  but  laid  one  side 
to  dry  out,  for  the  excessive  moisture  would  cause  the 
stem  to  rot  and  thereby  injure  the  whole  bundle. 
Leaves  having  very  light  veins  should  also  be  excluded, 
for  these  veins  will  turn  white  when  the  leaf  passes 
through  the  sweat,  which  greatly  detracts  from  the  value 
of  the  leaf. 

After  being  bundled,  the  ''hands,"  as  the  bundles 
are  called,  are  laid  together  in  a  pile,  not  on  the  floor, 
but  raised  from  the  ground  a  few  inches  by  making  a 
rough  platform  of  poles  and  boards.  Commence  by  lay- 
ing a  row  on  one  side  of  the  platform  with  the  butts 
out,  then  on  the  other  side  in  the  same  way,  letting  the 
tips  lap  over  slightly,  just  enough  to  keep  the  pile  level. 
Proceed  in  this  way,  laying  on  each  side  alternately, 
until  all  is  packed.  Lay  some  boards  on  top  of  the  pile, 
and  put  on  just  weight  enough  to  keep  them  snug. 
Some  covering  should  be  put  at  the  end  of  the  pile  to 
keep  it  from  drying  out.  The  seconds  and  fillers  are 
each  packed  in  a  pile  separate  from  the  others.  If  it 
remains  long  in  the  pile,  it  should  be  inspected  occasion- 
ally to  see  that  it  does  not  heat.  If  it  has  been  packed 
when  too  damp,  it  is  quite  apt  to  heat,  especially  if  the 
pile  is  large.  When  this  is  apparent,  the  pile  should  be 
made  over  and  the  damp  bundles  shaken  out  to  dry. 

Assorting. — Most  dealers  prefer  to  have  tobacco 
delivered  in  the  bundle,  for  they  have  their  individual 
methods  of  assorting  and  prefer  to  do  it  themselves  so 
their  goods»may  all  run  alike ;  when  assorted  by  many 
different  farmers,  there  is  much  liability  of  variation. 
Farmers  who  have  a  good  reputation  for  assorting,  how- 
ever, not  only  assort  their  own  crops,  but  are  often 
employed  by  packers  to  assort  other  crops  in  the  section. 
Assorting  can  be  done  during  the  stripping  process,  but 
it  is  almost  always  done  later  and  special  work  made  of 


CULTUKE   OF   CIGAR  LEAF.  431 

it.  The  tobacco  is  packed  in  bundles,  or  small  bales, 
and  carried  to  the  local  assorting  place,  where  it  is 
unpacked  and  assorted  into  grades,  according  to  the 
color,  texture,  length  and  condition  of  the  leaf.  When 
tobacco  is  packed,  it  is  very  important  that  it  should  be 
at  the  proper  degree  of  pliability.  If  too  dry,  great 
damage  is  done  to  the  leaf  by  breakage,  and  the  best 
wrappers  may  be  ruined  when  handled  dry.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  there  is  too  much  moisture  in  the  leaf,  a 
fermentation  will  be  produced,  so  excessive  as  to  destroy 
the  vitality  of  the  tobacco  and  produce  a  mold  that 
imparts  a  disagreeable  odor.  Good  judgment  is  required 
at  this  stage.  If  bulked  in  cold  weather,  the  amount 
of  water  is  often  greatly  underestimated  and  if  warm 
weather  comes  on,  danger  ensues.  There  is  no  danger, 
whatever,  if  the  stems  are  thoroughly  dried  out  when 
the  tobacco  is  taken  down  from  the  poles. 

Casing  or  Boxing,  —  When  cased,  the  boxes  for 
wrappers  are  36  inches  long  and  28  inches  square  at  the 
head,  and  36  or  38  inches  long  by  28  inches  for  seconds 
and  fillers.  The  tobacco  must  be  packed  in  these  boxes, 
so  that  the  ends  of  the  hands  stand  from  one  to  two 
inches  from  the  side  of  the  box.  The  quantity  in  each 
box  runs  about  300  to  350  pounds  for  wrappers,  325 
pounds  for  seconds  and  300  pounds  for  fillers.  It 
usually  requires  quite  a  good  deal  of  pressure,  Fig.  122, 
to  get  the  box  full.  It  is  best  to  leave  the  casing  to  the 
middlemen,  unless  the  business  is  well  understood. 

Sweating. — The  later  fermentation,  or  "sweating," 
process  is  generally  done  by  the  dealers.  It  ^usually 
comes  after  assorting  and  casing.  The  tobacco  is 
packed,  or  cased,  and  allowed  to  remain  ;  as  the  weather 
grows  warmer,  the  sweating  begins  and  continues  for 
many  weeks.  In  this  time  the  tobacco  becomes  warm, 
reaching  100°  F.,  and  sometimes  more.  During  the 
sweat,  the  boxes  are  piled  one  on  another  on  their  sides, 


432  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

but  never  exposed  to  the  rays  of  the  sun.  A  sealed 
room  is  usually  preferred  for  the  purpose,  and  the  heat 
generated  is  at  times  so  great  as  to  be  quite  uncomfort- 
able. The  sweating  process  is  to  tobacco  what  fermenta- 
tion is  to  wine ;  it  ripens  and  prepares  it  for  use,  perfect- 
ing its  color  and  improving  its  flavor.  The  acrid,  or 
pungent,  taste  is  subdued,  while  the  burning  qualities 
are  increased  and  it  also  gives  a  shiny,  oily  surface, 
which  is  called  "satin  face."  All  tobacco  does  not  go 
through  this  process  equally  well.  Some  of  it  comes  out 
dead  and  lifeless  in  appearance  and  lacking  in  texture 
and  elasticity.  The  loss  in  weight  is  also  quite  consid- 
erable, often  amounting  to  10  or  15  per  cent. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

CIGAR-LEAF   TOBACCO    AT  THE   WEST   AND   SOUTH. 

During  the  last  few  years  of  agricultural  depression, 
many  special  crops,  heretofore  confined  to  limited 
regions,  have  been  experimented  with  in  other  sections. 
Where  these  experiments  have  proven  successful,  such 
crops  have  been  largely  grown.  Not  many  years  ago, 
the  broom  corn  supplies  of  the  United  States  came 
largely  from  the  Connecticut  valley,  then  the  crop 
emigrated  to  the  Mohawk  valley,  but  now  it  is  mainly 
grown  in  Illinois,  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  Hops  were 
formerly  largely  grown  in  New  England,  but  were 
superseded  by  hops  produced  in  Central  New  York,  yet 
the  remarkable  success  of  hop  culture  on  the  Pacific 
coast  has  caused  such  overproduction  and  low  prices 
that  it  is  a  question  whether  the  New  York  State  hop 
industry  will  be  able  to  maintain  itself. 

Whether  a  like  state  of  affairs  is  destined  to  come 
about  in  the  cigar-leaf  tobacco  industry  remains  to  be 
seen.  It  is  true  that  for  many  years  this  industry  has 
been  confined  to  limited  areas  in  New  England,  Central 
New  York  and  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  but  it  has  long 
been  a  feature  of  Southern  Ohio  agriculture  and,  more 
recently,  in  Wisconsin.  During  the  past  six  years,  cigar- 
leaf  tobacco  has  been  experimented  with  in  many  other 
sections  of  the  United  States,  and  in  some  of  these  cases 
with  such  attractive  results  as  to  indicate  that  the 
industry  is  destined  to  have  a  large  development  in 
those  regions.  Promising  results  have  been  obtained  in 
certain  parts  of  Nebraska,  especially  at  Schuyler,  in 
ss  433 


434 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


' 

^.m^J! 


IMl? 


CIGAE  LEAF  AT  THE  WEST  AND  SOUTH.  435 

several  localities  of  Colorado,  and  to  a  more  limited 
extent  in  Washington,  Oregon  and  California.  In  the 
latter  State,  cigar-leaf  tobacco  culture  is  now  receiving 
the  close  attention  of  practical  and  scientific  men,  and 
should  their  work  prove  successful  in  obtaining  leaf  of 
good  quality,  its  culture  will  doubtless  be  developed  on 
the  large  scale  characteristic  of  California  enterprise. 

In  Texas,  quite  a  number  of  crops  of  fine  tobacco 
have  been  raised  during  the  past  three  or  four  years, 
more  especially  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  State, 
particularly  in  Montgomery,  Victoria  and  Calhoun  coun- 
ties, the  latter  adjoining  the  coast  between  Aransas  Bay 
and  Matagorda  Bay,  Victoria  adjoining  it  to  the  west. 
It  is  stated  that  one  farmer,  in  Montgomery  county, 
sold  8,000  pounds  of  cigar  leaf  grown,  in  1894,  on  nine 
acres  of  "gray  hickory"  land,  and  that  he  got  40  cents 
per  pound  for  the  better  grades  for  cigar  wrappers,  and  a 
satisfactory  price  for  the  lower  grades  for  fillers.  To- 
bacco grown  in  Calhoun  county  has  sold  as  high  as  50 
cents  per  pound.  It  is  claimed  for  selections  of  the  leaf 
grown  in  that  section,  that  it  is  equal  to  the  best 
tobacco  grown  on  the  Island  of  Cuba,  for  either  fillers 
or  wrappers.  Well-informed  Texas  growers  express  a 
confidence  that  they  will  be  able  to  successfully  compete 
with  tobacco  grown  in  any  part  of  the  world. 

The  greatest  interest  and  largest  development  of 
late  years,  however,  of  the  industry  in  the  so-called 
"new  sections,"  has  been  in  Florida  and  the  adjoining 
counties  of  Southern  Georgia.  Forty  years  ago,  much 
of  this  area  produced  a  leaf  which  was  considered  desir- 
able for  cigars  then  in  use,  though  most  of  the  Florida 
crop,  before  the  war,  was  exported  to  Bremen  and 
Amsterdam,  and  was  popular  for  its  light  color  and 
inild  flavor.  But  the  industry  languished  until  the 
tariff  agitation  of  1889  directed  attention  to  tests  that 
had  been  conducted  privately  in  Gadsden  county,  and 


436 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


CIGAE   LEAF  AT  THE   WEST   AND   SOUTH.  437 

publicly  by  tbe  Florida  experiment  station.  The 
Florida  tobacco  "boom,"  started  by  the  tariff  of  1890, 
was  short-lived,  but  the  work  has  been  persisted  in.  It 
is  now  demonstrated,  since  that  date,  that  Florida  has 
all  the  natural  conditions  necessary  for  growing  cigar- 
leaf  tobacco,  both  wrappers  and  fillers,  of  a  quality  equal 
to  most  of  that  which  has  been  imported  from  the 
Island  of  Cuba  in  recent  years,  and  wrappers  of  finer 
quality  than  those  imported  from  Sumatra.  These  are 
strong  statements,  but  they  are  justified. 

The  industry  in  Florida  has  practically  three  divi- 
sions :  First,  the  culture  of  domestic  varieties,  which 
are  rapidly  giving  way  to  (second)  the  culture  of 
tobacco  plants  raised  from  the  best  Cuban  seed,  and 
(third)  the  raising  of  Sumatran  seedleaf.  The  seed  of 
the  latter  was  obtained  with  difficulty  by  a  man  sent  to 
Sumatra  for  the  purpose.  A  little  of  this  importation 
was  planted  in  Connecticut  and  Pennsylvania,  and  has 
given  promising  results,  but  the  bulk  of  the  seed  was 
distributed  in  Florida.  The  1896  was  the  third  crop  of 
this  new  variety  since  its  importation,  and  it  is  conserv- 
ative to  say  that  it  has  already  revolutionized  the 
cigar-leaf  industry  of  Florida,  and  upward  of  1,000,000 
pounds  of  it  were  produced  in  1896.  Plates  V  and  VI, 
on  Page  36,  give  an  admirable  idea  of  this  Florida- 
grown  Sumatran  seedleaf,  which  is  quite  different  from 
all  other  tobaccos  grown  in  America,  or  Cuba,  and  a 
view  of  a  whole  field  of  it  is  afforded  on  Page  434. 

Havana  wrappers  and  fillers  have  been  grown  very 
successfully  in  Northern  Florida,  the  most  extensive 
operations  being  conducted  by  the  Owl  Cigar  Company, 
in  Gadsden  county,  who  also  grow  Sumatran  leaf.  This 
concern  owns  17,000  acres,  divided  into  nine  planta- 
tions and  each  having  its  superintendent.  It  owns  146 
barns  (each  from  40x60  to  40x108  feet),  210  tenements 
for  laborers,  besides  its  own  mills,  repair  shops,  etc. 


438  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

At  Quincy,  it  has  four  large  warehouses,  besides  the 
buildings  where  the  final  fermentation  and  packing  is 
done.  The  company  raises  900  acres  of  tobacco  annu- 
ally, besides  other  crops,  and  packs  2500  bales  of  tobacco 
each  year.  It  employs  1200  men  in  the  growing  season 
and  500  men  the  year  through,  at  an  annual  payroll  of 
$150,000.  Other  planters  raised  about  1000  acres  of 
cigar  leaf  in  the  Gadsden  section  during  1896,  making  a 
total  of  nearly  2000  acres  in  that  region,  practically  all 
of  which  is  usually  sold  by  the  growers  by  October. 

The  plant  of  Sumatran  seedleaf  in  bloom  (except  for 
its  flower)  reminds  one  of  the  common  sunflower  rather 
than  of  what  we  are  accustomed  to  in  tobacco.  Its 
leaves  are  of  so  delicate  a  nature  that  after  being  fer- 
mented it  will  take  about  200  of  them  to  weigh  a  pound. 
Hence  the  wonderful  "wrapping"  capacity  of  this  leaf — 
that  is,  the  great  number  of  cigars  that  can  be  covered 
with  one  pound  of  Sumatran  seedleaf.  The  1896  crop 
of  it  in  Florida  was  nearly  all  bought  up  before  election, 
at  20  to  50  cents  per  pound  for  the  cured  leaf,  while  it 
is  claimed  that  selections  of  Florida-grown  Sumatran 
leaf  have  sold  to  cigar  manufacturers  for  $1.50  to  $2  per 
pound,  in  appearance  rivaling  as  cigar  wrappers  the 
finest  imported  from  Sumatra,  while  in  quality  (that  is, 
flavor,  body,  burn,  etc.),  surpassing  the  best  Sumatran 
leaf.  Unlike  the  leaf  direct  from  Sumatra,  which  is  so 
poor  in  quality  as  to  be  unfit  for  the  bulk  of  the  cigar 
(fillers  and  binders),  this  Sumatran  seedleaf,  when 
allowed  to  fully  ripen,  possesses  quality  and  aroma  that 
make  it  desirable  for  fillers,  being  wholly  free  from  the 
bitter  taste  of  the  imported  article.  In  this  respect,  it 
seems  to  improve  after  one  or  two  years'  domestication. 
In  Florida,  it  does  well  on  both  old  and  new  lands, 
while  in  Sumatra  tobacco  is  grown  largely  on  new  land. 
Aside  from  its  hardiness,  thrift  and  quick-growing 
qualities,  and  the  high  price  the  best  leaf  commands, 


440  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

this  Florida  Sumatran  seedleaf  is  specially  attractive  to 
the  planter,  because,  under  the  same  conditions,  it 
averages  more  pounds  of  cured  leaf  per  acre  than  do 
other  varieties  heretofore  grown  in  Florida.  Sumatran 
seedleaf  makes  800  pounds  under  average  conditions, 
and  as  high  as  1000  to  1200  pounds  have  been  claimed 
in  a  few  instances.  Mr.  Curry,  who  had  130  acres  of 
Sumatran  seedleaf  under  his  charge  in  Florida  in  1896, 
reports  an  average  of  800  pounds  of  merchantable  cured 
leaf  per  acre.  Being  so  upright  in  growth,  plants  are 
set  12  to  15  inches  apart,  in  rows  three  and  one-half  to 
four  feet  apart,  giving  10,000  to  12,000  plants  per  acre. 
Col.  F.  B.  Moodie,  who  has  done  much  to  develop  the 
industry  as  president  of  the  Florida  tobacco  growers' 
association,  and  to  whom  we  are  greatly  indebted  for 
much  information,  reports  that  with  proper  care  seventy- 
five  per  cent  of  the  crop  will  be  fine  A  wrappers,  the 
balance  seconds,  binders  and  fillers. 

Imported  seed  is  very  delicate,  but  that  from  the 
first  or  second  year's  growth  in  Florida  is  much  more 
hardy.  But  even  in  Northern  Florida,  it  is  never  safe 
to  sow  this  variety  before  the  middle  of  March,  by  which 
time  other  varieties  are  usually  transplanted.  In  Gads- 
den  county,  on  the  Gulf  side,  Sumatran  seedleaf  is 
transplanted  as  early  as  April  1  to  10.  Under  favorable 
conditions,  it  is  a  rapid  grower,  and  within  40  to  50  days 
will  attain  the  remarkable  hight  of  six  to  eight  feet,  and 
when  in  flower  nine  to  ten  feet.  It  has  been  found 
best  not  to  top  the  plant  at  all,  and  if  at  all,  not  until 
about  four-fifths  of  the  leaves  have  been  harvested. 
Some  top  to  24  leaves,  while  others  get  30  to  40  leaves 
on  the  taller  plants.  Early  planted  Sumatra  is  without 
spots,  but  the  later  planted  crop  is  spotted.  If  the  soil 
is  poor,  or  the  season  dry,  so  that  growth  is  slow,  or  if 
the  plant  is  topped  too  low,  the  leaves  are  thick,  dark 
and  comparatively  undesirable.  Harvesting  of  the  early 


CIGAR    LEAF  AT  THE   WEST   AND   SOUTH.  441 

crop  is  done  from  June  15  to  September  15,  by  breaking 
off  (or  "priming"")  the  leaves  as  fast  as  they  "speck." 
Let  it  be  noted  that  the  word  "speck"  is  used  for 
"ripe."  Indeed,  this  variety  of  wrapper  leaf  must  not 
be  allowed  to  fully  ripen,  as  its  texture  and  its  popular 
and  delicate  light  pea-greenish  hue  will  be  spoiled  by 
deepening  into  the  "brown  and  sear."  If  the  leaves 
are  allowed  to  ripen,  they  make  a  good  filler,  better  still 
after  one  or  more  years'  reproduction  in  Florida.  If 
harvested  before  July  1,  a  second  crop  may  be  grown  on 
the  same  land.  In  harvesting  the  tobacco  crop,  the 
stalk  is  not  cut  until  the  leaves  are  all  gathered.  As 
soon  as  the  lower  leaves  are  ready  to  harvest,  they  are 
plucked  by  hand,  carefully  laid  in  baskets  covered  with 
burlap,  and  brought  in  carts  designed  for  this  use  to  a 
tent  at  one  end  of  the  curing  barn.  Three  or  four  pick- 
ings at  different  times  are  necessary,  to  handle  the  whole 
crop.  The  field  work  is  all  done  by  negroes,  who  are 
paid  75  cents  per  day,  and  are  under  white  superin- 
tendents. 

For  hanging  in  the  barn,  laths  are  used.  They  are 
deeply  notched  at  one  end  with  a  saw,  and  into  these 
cuts  the  cord  is  drawn,  which  holds  the  leaves.  Girls 
or  boys  string  the  leaves  on  these  cords  with  a  needle 
made  for  this  purpose.  The  girls  get  20  cents  per  100 
laths  and  will  sometimes  string  350  per  day.  The  leaves 
hang  face  to  face  and  back  to  back,  a  finger  breadth 
apart,  40  to  50  leaves  to  a  lath,  as  shown  in  Fig.  125. 
The  laths  hang  from  four  to  six  inches  apart  on  the 
poles  in  the  barn,  and  a  barn  holds  from  20,000  to 
25,000  lath,  being  filled  in  a  day  or  day  and  a  half.  The 
barn  curing  is  done  much  as  it  is  at  the  North,  with 
careful  attention  to  ventilation  and  moisture,  but  with- 
out artificial  heat,  as  white  vein  and  pole  burn  seem  to 
be  unknown.  The  cure  is  usually  completed  within  35 
to  40  days,  when  the  green  color  has  disappeared  from 


CIGAR    LEAF   AT  THE   WEST   AND   SOUTH.  443 

the  midrib.  Then  the  leaves  are  pulled  together  in  the 
middle  of  the  string,  with  which  they  are  tied  into  bun- 
dles and  delivered  to  the  buyer's  warehouse,  the  assort- 
ing having  been  done  at  the  time  the  leaves  were  strung. 
The  so-called  "fermentation  house"  of  the  Ow] 
Cigar  Company,  at  Quincy,  Florida,  is  thus  described 
for  this  work  by  Dr.  E.  H.  Jenkins,  Ph.  D.,  vice 
director  Connecticut  experiment  station  :  "This  house 
is  perfectly  equipped  for  its  purpose,  and  in  all  its 
arrangements  and  the  conduct  of  the  operations,  is  a 
model  of  absolute  neatness,  order  and  good  management. 
The  rooms  where  the  tobacco  is  handled  over  in  any 
way  are  steam  heated,  so  that  the  temperature  can  be 
kept  at  the  desired  point  night  and  day.  Without  not- 
ing the  thermometer,  I  should  say  that  none  of  them 
were  below  75°  F.,  and  the  air  is  kept  very  moist  with 
escaping  steam.  Tobacco  lies  loosely  on  the  tables,  with- 
out drying  out  at  all.  The  tobacco  is  'bulked'  imme- 
diately upon  its  receipt  for  fermentation.  The  aim  is 
to  'cook  it  in  its  own  juice,'  and  no  blowing  or  dampen- 
ing of  the  leaf  is  allowed.  This  is  regarded  as  vital  to 
success.  A  'bulk'  is  made  by  covering  the  floor  with 
trash  tobacco,  fermented  cuttings,  etc.,  about  six  to 
eight  inches  deep.  Uprights,  to  which  boards  can  be 
tacked  as  the  bulk  is  built  up,  hold  it  in  place.  On 
this  trash  tobacco,  the  leaves  are  laid,  tied  in  hands. 
Trash  tobacco  is  also  laid  next  the  side  boards.  The 
bulks  which  we  saw  were  from  five  to  six  feet,  or  more, 
high,  and  when  made  are  covered  with  trash  tobacco 
and  blankets.  The  temperature  of  the  pile  rises  rapidly 
and  sometimes  will  reach  180°  F.,  in  the  center.  When 
the  expert  judges  it  necessary, — in  extreme  cases,  within 
twenty-four  hours  after  the  bulk  is  built, — it  is  all 
handled  over  and  built  again  close  by.  The  leaves 
which  were  in  the  middle  of  the  first  bulk  are  put  on 
the  outside  of  the  second.  The  aim  is  not  only  to  make 


444  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

the  fermentation  even  for  all  the  tobacco,  but  each  hand 
is  shaken  out,  as,  otherwise,  the  leaves  will  stick 
together  and  be  uneven  in  color,  and  it  may  be  impos- 
sible to  pull  them  apart  without  tearing.  It  may  be 
necessary  to  repeat  this  turning  of  the  bulks  six  or  eight 
times  before  the  process  is  complete.  Often  two  bulks 
are  mixed,  if  one  is  rather  too  damp  and  the  other  too 
dry.  When  the  fermentation  is  done,  the  leaves  are  very 
carefully  sorted  as  to  both  size  and  color,  are  tied  into 
hands,  these  put  in  carottes  and  baled  to  'age'  for  one 
or  two  years.  They  are  first  put  into  a  warm  room  to 
cool  down  and  finally  into  a  cooler  storage.  While  this 
process  of  fermentation  is  much  more  expensive  than 
that  of  fermenting  in  the  case,  it  has  the  great  advan- 
tage that  the  time  required  is  much  less,  and  the  whole 
process  can  be  watched  and  controlled,  whereas,  when 
sweated  in  the  case,  there  is  absolutely  no  supervision  or 
control  possible." 

Both  spring  and  fall  planting,  in  most  parts  of 
Florida,  have  advantages  and  disadvantages,  but  it  is 
probable  that  the  fall  planting  will  become  quite  as  gen- 
eral as  spring  setting.  Fall  tobacco  in  Florida  will  be 
in  no  more  danger  from  frost  than  is  the  spring  crop  at 
the  North,  while  the  fall  crop  escapes  grass  and  weeds, 
grasshoppers,  and  most  of  the  worms  and  other  pests. 
Only  about  one-fourth  as  much  rainfall  is  needed  for 
the  crop  in  October,  November  and  December,  as  during 
April,  May  and  June.  It  is  believed,  also,  that  this  late 
crop  will  average  in  quality  superior  to  the  spring  crop, 
especially  for  fillers,  as  is  the  case  in  Cuba. 

The  best  soil  for  this  crop  in  Florida,  Col.  Moodie 
finds,  after  studying  experiments  in  all  parts  of  the 
State,  to  be  a  light,  sandy  loam,  well  drained,  fine  and 
friable,  with  no  crude  limestone  cropping  out,  and  par- 
ticularly should  it  be  free  from  loose  arenaceous  or  so- 
called  "rotten"  limestone,  common  in  many  parts  of 


CIGAR    LEAF   AT  THE    WEST   AND   SOUTH.  445 

northern,  central  and  western  Florida,  where  fossilized 
organic  remains  and  phosphates  are  found.  The  tobacco 
field  should  be  near  a  body  or  stream  of  fresh  water,  to 
insure  humidity  from  the  constant  evaporation.  In 
Gadsden  county,  where  tobacco  is  extensively  grown, 
the  soils  used  are  fine,  light  and  sandy  on  the  surface, 
but  resting  on  a  clayey  sand  at  a  depth  of  ten  inches  to 
two  feet,  which  is  quite  moist,  and  at  the  same  time 
readily  permeable  by  water.  In  heavy  rains,  the  water 
is  quickly  taken  up  from  the  surface,  yet  in  very  dry 
weather,  the  soil  is  damp  at  a  depth  of  a  few  inches. 

Opinions  differ  as  to  the  proper  manuring  of  soils 
of  this  character  for  tobacco.  Moodie's  advice  is  to 
make  no  application  of  stable  or  barnyard  manures,  ex- 
cept a  light  dressing  of  well-rotted  manure  on  sterile 
soils,  to  impregnate  them  with  the  bacteria  of  nitrifica- 
tion. On  the  Gadsden  extensive  plantations,  cottonseed 
meal  is  the  only  fertilizer  used.  The  cautions  in  the 
use  of  manures  and  fertilizers  that  are  stated  in  Chapter 
VI  must  all  be  observed,  but  much  has  yet  to  be  learned 
about  their  application  in  the  semi-tropics.  Moodie 
maintains  that  the  double  manure  salt  (sulphate  of  pot- 
ash and  magnesia)  is  even  preferable  to  the  high  grade 
sulphate  of  potash  under  Florida  conditions. 

Southern  Florida,  much  nearer  the  tropics  than  the 
northern  part  of  the  State,  is  also  coming  to  the  front  in 
tobacco  culture.  It  has  much  the  same  climate  and 
soil  as  Cuba,  and  has  naturally  attracted  the  attention 
of  those  driven  out  of  Cuba  by  the  war.  The  first  plan- 
tation to  be  established  was  that  at  Fort  Meade,  Polk 
county,  by  the  Cuban  Tobacco  Growers'  Co.,  limited, 
incorporated  in  January,  1896,  with  a  capital  of  $150,- 
000.  Its  officers,  with  one  exception,  are  Cubans,  and 
the  president  and  general  manager  have  had  long  experi- 
ence in  growing  and  handling  tobacco  in  that  island. 
Dr.  E,  H.  Jenkins  contributes  to  this  work  the  follow- 


446 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


FIG.  127.     VUELTA  ABAJO  TOBACCO  IN  FLORIDA. 

Ready  to  harvest,  Nov.  1,  at  Ft  Meade,  in  45  days  from  planting,  grown  by 
means  of  artificial  irrigation. 


CIGAR    LEAF   AT  THE   WEST   AND   SOUTH.  447 

ing  interesting  account  of  it,  based  on  a  visit  made  a 
year  later. 

The  tobacco  lands  of  the  Fort  Meade  region  are  very 
light,  deep,  sandy  soils,  finer  in  texture  than  those  of 
the  Connecticut  valley,  and  contain  some  humus.  They 
have  been  covered,  from  time  immemorial,  with  a  growth 
of  wood,  the  best  of  them  with  oak,  hickory,  live  oak, 
magnolia,  etc.  At  the  time  of  our  visit,  no  rain  had 
fallen  for  many  weeks,  yet  the  soil  was  damper  in  ap- 
pearance and  feel  than  our  Connecticut  soils  after  two 
weeks  of  dry  weather.  Nevertheless,  the  company  has 
put  in  an  irrigating  plant  and  uses  it  during  the  grow- 
ing season. 

The  seed  beds  made  on  new  lands,  protected  from 
light  frost  by  the  surrounding  timber,  und  fertilized 
only  with  the  ashes  of  the  wood  and  trash  cut  to  clear 
them,  are  sowed  in  January.  On  Jan.  15,  some  beds 
were  not  yet  sowed,  in  others  the  plants  were  an  inch 
high  and  were  being  weeded.  The  plants  are  set  in  the 
field  early  in  March,  at  the  rate  of  about  15,000  per 
acre.  Native  Cubans  do  all  the  work  on  the  crops, 
which  are  cultivated  wholly  by  hand,  with  short-handled, 
very  heavy  hoes.  The  only  fertilizer  used  is  Peruvian 
guano,  at  the  rate  of  about  450  pounds  to  the  acre. 
The  land  appears  to  be  kept  clear  of  weeds,  and  the 
plants  are  hilled  up,  but  not  quite  as  much,  perhaps,  as 
in  Connecticut.  The  irrigating  is  done  from  standpipes 
six  or  seven  feet  high,  with  a  spraying  fixture  which 
distributes  the  water  (Fig.  126)  over  a  circular  area 
about  sixty  feet  in  diameter.  The  plants  are  suckered, 
and  after  topping  have  only  eight  to  ten  leaves  on  the 
average  per  plant,  more  leaves  being  left  on  strong 
plants  than  on  feeble  ones,  and  more  on  strong  soil  than 
on  poorer  land.  It  is  stated  that  the  plant,  at  harvest 
time,  has  the  shape  of  an  inverted  cone,  the  top  leaves 
being  the  largest,  as  appears  in  Fig.  127. 


448  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

The  first  harvest  is  gathered  early  in  June.  The 
growing  stalks  are  cut  in  sections,  each  carrying  two 
leaves,  and  are  hung  on  poles  in  the  field,  astraddle  as 
it  were,  and  close  together.  A  preliminary  sorting  is 
done  in  the  field,  leaves  of  like  character  being  hung  on 
the  same  pole.  These  poles  are  carried  to  the  curing 
barn  by  hand  and  put  up  for  the  barn  cure.  The  barns 
built  in  the  tobacco  field  are  considerably  smaller  than 
those  in  New  England  or  Pennsylvania.  There  is  no 
arrangement  for  supplying  artificial  heat  or  moisture  in 
the  barns.  The  wrappers  are  kept  housed  till  cured, 
but  the  fillers  are  occasionally  brought  out  and  hung  in 
the  sun  and  air  during  a  part  of  the  day,  and  always 
housed  at  night.  During  barn  curing,  as  well  as  in  the 
sweat,  the  crop  is  closely  watched  by  the  experts.  Pole 
burn  seems  to  be  unknown.  The  whole  process  of 
sweating,  "betuning,"  etc.,  requires  considerable  skill 
and  experience,  is  a  secret  one,  and  naturally  I  made  no 
inquiries  regarding  it. 

When  the  first  crop  is  cut,  a  sucker  is  left  on  the 
sunny  side  of  each  stalk,  and  this  immediately  starts  to 
grow,  and  produces  a  second  crop,  sometimes  in  forty- 
five  days,  being  already  provided  with  a  strong  root  sys- 
tem, and  favored  by  the  rains,  which  are  more  abundant 
from  June  on,  through  the  summer.  Even  a  third  crop 
may  sometimes  be  grown  from  the  plants  first  set  in 
February.  Meantime,  new  seed  beds  have  been  made 
and  the  land  is  planted  with  tobacco  a  second  time  in 
September,  and  this  is  harvested  in  November  or  De- 
cember. Under  very  favorable  circumstances,  a  second 
(sucker)  cutting  may  be  made  from  the  planting.  The 
first  cutting  of  each  crop  consists  chiefly  of  wrappers. 
The  second  and  third  are  for  the  most  part  fillers.  It 
is  stated  that  an  acre  of  land  should  produce  at  least 
1250  pounds  annually,  of  which  one-half  should  be 
wrappers.  As  none  of  the  company's  tobacco  has  yet 


CIGAB,LEAF   AT  THE   WEST  AND   SOUTH.  449 

been  sold,  no  definite  statement  of  price  can  be  made. 
It  is  believed  that  it  will  command  the  same  price  as 
the  best  grades  of  imported  Havana.  This  company 
was  organized  in  January,  1896.  Since  then  it  is  stated 
to  have  cleared  100  acres  of  land,  and  to  have  harvested 
and  cured  the  tobacco  from  this  area.  The  crop  har- 
vested in  June  has  been  fermented,  and  I  smoked  cigars 
made  wholly  of  this  stock.  It  is  not  yet  regarded  as 
ready  for  manufacture,  however.  The  cure  is  not  com- 
plete till  May,  and  the  tobacco  should  then  "  age "  a 
year  before  it  will  be  at  its  best.  The  company  itself 
will  double  its  acreage  in  1897,  and  has  opportunity  for 
unlimited  extension  as  soon  as  capital  is  secured. 

Many  farmers  see  in  this  enterprise  a  very  hopeful 
outlook  for  men  of  skill  and  energy,  and  are  preparing 
to  grow  tobacco  under  contract  with  this  company.  The 
terms  of  the  contract  are,  in  general,  these  :  The  farmer 
provides  the  land,  barns  and  fertilizers.  The  company 
provides  the  laborers,  to  be  paid  by  the  farmer  at  the 
rate  of  one  dollar  per  day  for  each  working  day,  and  a 
foreman  to  handle  the  men,  also  paid  by  the  farmer. 
The  work  is  also  supervised  by  the  manager  of  the  com- 
pany, without  charge.  The  company  sweats  the  tobacco 
and  prepares  it  for  market  in  the  Cuban  style,  and  for 
this  receives  one-third  of  the  crop. 


450 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


PART   IV. 


TOBACCO  MANUFACTURE. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 


452 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


!! 


K 


w  ° 

§1 


CHAPTER  XXL 

ON  THE  MANUFACTURE   OF  TOBACCO. 


PLUGS    FOR   CHEWING   AND   SMOKING. 

In  no  other  line  of  manufacture  is  there  so  much  to 
be  gained  by  the  proper  selection  and  judicious  use  of 
the  material,  as  in  the  manufacture  of  plug  tobacco. 
How  to  combine  the  different  qualities  of  tobacco,  with 
what  sauces  to  treat  them,  how  to  fashion  the  plugs  or 
twists,  and  what  markets  are  to  be  accommodated,  re- 
quire the  most  intelligent  thought  and  the  most  skillful 
management.  The  tobacco  leaf  is  exceedingly  variable 
in  its  component  elements.  Its  secrets  are  the  secrets 
of  chemistry  and  bacteriology.  It  presents  endless  prob- 
lems and  constant  study  for  their  solution.  The  manip- 
ulation differs  with  each  variety  or  grade,  and  no  two 
types  or  grades  of  tobacco  will  produce  precisely  the 
same  results  under  the  same  treatment.  The  taste  and 
flavor  of  the  product  must  be  agreeable  to  the  consumer, 
and  the  tastes  of  consumers  vary.  What  will  suit  one 
class  of  consumers  would  probably  be  very  distasteful  to 
another  class.  The  man  of  sedentary  habits  prefers  a 
mild,  sweet  tobacco,  with  a  small  content  of  nicotine. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  field  laborer,  the  sailor,  the  fish- 
erman or  the  man  living  an  outdoor  life,  is  best  pleased 
with  strong  tobacco.  The  habits,  as  well  as  the  tastes, 
of  men  must  therefore  be  considered  by  the  successful 
manufacturer. 

453 


454 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


THE  MANUFACTURE   OF  TOBACCO.  455 

The  manufacture  of  tobacco  has  been  going  on  for 
centuries,  and  from  the  simple  operation  of  taking  out 
the  midrib  and  putting  it  up  into  twists,  the  industry 
now  employs  the  most  skilled  labor  and  the  most  com- 
plete mechanical  appliances  for  treating  it  with  sauces, 
drying  it  by  artificial  heat,  reordering  it  by  steam, 
weighing,  putting  on  the  wrapper,  and  compressing  into 
plugs  in  various  forms  and  sizes. 

The  Burley  of  Kentucky  and  Ohio,  and  the  sun, 
air  and  flue  cured  tobacco  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas, 
constitute  the  fillers  for  the  greatest  part  of  the  plug 
tobacco  of  the  United  States.  The  wrappers  also  come 
from  Virginia,  the  Carolinas  and  the  White  Burley  dis- 
tricts. The  Burley  fillers  are  sometimes  whitish,  but 
generally  of  a  cinnamon  color,  of  a  tough,  waxy  finish 
and  silky  fiber.  These  fillers  have  more  body  and  gum 
than  the  cutting  leaf  from  the  same  districts.  The  raw 
material  is  put  up  in  casks,  of  an  average  weight  of  1000 
pounds  for  Burley  fillers,  and  750  pounds  for  Virginia 
and  Carolina  wrappers.  The  tobacco  is  packed  in  uni- 
form layers,  and  but  slightly  compressed,  so  the  leaves 
may  open  freely. 

In  a  properly  constructed  tobacco  factory,  the  first 
work  begins  in  the  upper  story,  to  which  the  hogsheads 
are  elevated.  The  work  begins  in  the  leaf  department. 
The  casks  are  taken  off,  so  as  to  expose  the  tobacco.  It 
is  taken  up,  bundle  by  bundle,  and  shaken.  The  infe- 
rior tobacco  is  thrown  in  one  pile,  and  the  better  quali- 
ties assorted  and  put  in  other  piles.  Water  is  sprinkled 
over  each  layer  of  bundles  as  they  are  put  in  the  piles, 
and  the  tobacco  remains  in  this  condition  for  twenty- 
four  hours,  so  that  the  moisture  may  become  evenly  dis- 
tributed. Women  mainly,  and  sometimes  men,  are  em- 
ployed (see  Fig.  130)  in  untying  the  bundles,  and  pick- 
ing, leaf  by  leaf,  assorting  and  separating  them  into  the 
different  qualities  suitable  for  the  various  brands  to  be 


456 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


THE  MANUFACTURE  OF  TOBACCO.  457 

made  in  the  factory.  The  leaves  are  then  brought  into 
a  high  state  of  moisture  by  steam,  and  the  midribs  ci- 
sterns removed.  The  stems  form  about  30  per  cent  of 
the  whole  quantity,  and  the  leaf  about  70  per  cent. 
After  this,  the  strips  or  stemless  leaves  are  passed,  by 
chutes,  to  the  next  floor  below,  which  is  called  the  wrap- 
per room  (Fig.  131),  where  the  sauces  and  other  flavor- 
ings are  applied  by  dipping  the  leaves  in  a  vat  filled  with 
the  flavoring  liquids.  These  sauces  are  compounded 
and  cooked  in  immense  kettles  arranged  for  the  purpose, 
and  their  density  is  determined  by  hydrometers,  so  as  to 
keep  them  true  to  the  formula  adopted.  These  formu- 
las are  usually  one  of  the  secrets  of  the  manufacturer, 
and  upon  the  popularity  of  the  flavor  used  depend,  in  a 
great  degree,  the  profits  of  the  business.  This  sweet- 
ened and  cooked  liquid  is  poured  into  immense  vats. 
After  the  leaves  have  been  thoroughly  saturated  with 
the  liquid,  they  are  made  to  pass  through  wringers,  so 
as  to  press  out  the  surplus  liquid,  which  flows  back  into 
the  vat.  The  leaves  are  then  passed  over  a  series  of 
heated  rollers,  becoming  thoroughly  dry,  but  are  again 
reordered  by  steam  and  packed  in  bulk,  to  remain  until 
wanted  for  making  into  plug. 

The  next  step  is  to  pass  the  mass  of  sweetened  leaves, 
by  a  chute,  to  the  floor  below,  or  lump  room,  where  it  is 
weighed,  enough  at  a  time  to  make  a  plug,  and  this 
quantity  is  put  in  a  shaper,  which  gives  the  desired  form 
and  size  to  the  plugs.  These  pressed  plugs  are  passed 
to  benches  or  stands,  where  the  wrappers  are  put  on  by 
skillful  men.  These  wrappers  are  carefully  selected,  as 
to  color  and  character  of  leaf,  so  that  the  same  general 
appearance  may  be  given  to  the  plugs  of  the  same  class. 
All  plugs  deficient  in  weight  or  defective  iu  color  are 
rejected.  The  perfect  plugs  are  now  dried  and  packed 
in  boxes  for  the  floor  below,  where  they  are  put  in  iron 
cases  and  pressed  and  creased  (Fig.  132,  Page  460). 


458  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

The  different  brands  require  different  hydraulic 
pressure.  Shape  mills  and  pot  mills  are  used.  While 
the  plugs  are  under  pressure,  they  are  put  in  gums  and 
allowed  to  sweat  or  ferment.  Some  brands  are  fermented 
lightly,  others  undergo  a  long  process  of  fermentation. 
In  each  case,  the  purpose  is  to  adapt  it  to  the  market  for 
which  it  is  intended  and  where  it  is  in  demand. 

After  this  fermenting  process,  the  plugs  are  taken 
out  and  again  carefully  inspected,  the  faulty  ones  being 
rejected  and  the  perfect  ones  tagged  and  packed  in  boxes. 
When  the  boxes  are  filled,  only  enough  pressure  is  put 
on  to  get  in  the  heads.  When  these  are  fastened  in  the 
boxes,  they  are  sent  to  the  shipping  room,  where  they 
are  branded  with  name,  size  of  the  plug,  and  the  gross 
and  net  weights  of  each  box.  There  is  a  groove  on  each 
box  for  the  government  stamp,  which  must  be  placed 
on  each  package,  and  then  varnished  and  canceled.  The 
boxes  are  strapped  in  packages  of  five  or  more,  for 
shipment. 

Cut  plug  tobacco  is  carried  through  a  similar  proc- 
ess, except  that  it  is  not  wrapped.  It  is  made  into 
various  sizes,  blocks  or  slabs,  and  cut  into  slices  for 
fancy  tin  or  paper  box  work,  or  shagged  for  boxes  or 
pouches,  as  customers  may  desire.  Cut  plug  is  made  by 
a  costly  patented  machine,  constructed  for  the  purpose. 
It  is  put  up  in  packages  varying  in  weight  from  two  to 
sixteen  ounces,  stamped  and  packed  in  wooden  cases  for 
shipment,  according  to  the  requirements  of  the  trade. 

The  J.  Wright  Company,  of  Eichmond,  Va.,  to 
whom  the  authors  are  indebted  for  the  cuts  that  accom- 
pany this  description,  and  also  for  the  main  data  contained 
in  it,  is  one  of  the  largest  plug  manufacturing  establish- 
ments in  the  world.  The  company  has  every  modern 
appliance,  convenience  and  improvement  for  facilitating 
the  work  and  obtaining  the  highest  results,  as  to  the 
excellence  and  handsome  appearance  of  their  products. 


THE   MANUFACTURE   OF  TOBACCO.  459 

It  uses  seven  distinct  styles  of  wrappers :  1,  Lemon ; 
2,  orange;  3,  bright  mahogany;  4,  dark  mahogany; 
5,  piebald  or  tortoise  shell;  6,  black  wrapper;  7,  cherry 
red.  The  factory  employs  from  350  to  400  hands,  and 
has  the  capacity  for  turning  out  15,000  pounds  of  man- 
ufactured work  daily.  Every  department  is  thoroughly 
organized  and  run  on  correct  business  principles.  An 
idea  of  its  works  is  given  in  Fig.  133,  Page  462. 

THE   MANUFACTURE   OF   SNUFF. 

There  are  five  kinds  of  snuff  manufactured  in  the 
United  States:  The  Scotch  or  "eating"  snuff,  the 
maccaboy"or  inhaling  snuff,  the  sweet  snuff  and  salting 
snuff,  the  two  latter  being  used  for  dipping.  Eappee 
snuff  is  made,  to  some  extent,  in  the  United  States,  but 
largely  in  France,  from  American  tobacco. 

The  material  used  for  making  Scotch  snuff  consists 
of  heavy,  dark  tobacco  of  medium  grade,  and  good 
"fatty"  lugs.  The  stock  is  kept  at  least  two  years  in 
hogsheads  before  it  is  used.  It  is  then  taken  out,  bun- 
dle by  bundle,  and  passed  through  a  cutting  machine, 
where  the  leaves,  including  the  stems,  are  coarsely  cut. 
When  cut,  it  is  packed  in  hogsheads  and  made  to  go 
through  three  successive  fermentations. 

In  these  processes  of  fermentation,  the  heat  reaches 
from  90°  to  100°  F.  Each  period  of  fermentation  is 
arrested  by  exposing  the  tobacco  to  the  air.  It  is  then 
repacked  and  made  to  go  through  another  fermentation. 
After  three  fermentations,  which  require  about  six 
weeks, — sometimes  more,  sometimes  less,  according  to 
the  richness  and  character  of  the  tobacco  used, — the 
tobacco  is  thoroughly  dried,  by  exposing  it  in  wide,  flat 
iron  pans  for  a  short  time  to  a  high  degree  of  heat.  It 
is  then  carried  from  the  pans  to  pulverizers,  which  con- 
sist of  a  series  of  mills,  each  of  which  has  three  heavy 
iron  rollers  rubbing  against  the  concave  and  inner  sur- 


460 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


THE   MANUFACTURE   OF  TOBACCO.  461 

face  of  a  hemispherical  iron  vessel,  the  pulverized  tobacco 
being  discharged  through  an  opening  in  the  bottom, 
like  that  of  a  fixed  wash  basin.  The  snuff  passes  from 
the  pulverizers  to  bolting  cloths,  not  unlike  those  used 
for  bolting  flour.  After  it  is  bolted,  the  process  of  man- 
ufacture is  completed.  The  snuff  is  then,  by  a  machine, 
packed  automatically  in  six-ounce  bottles  made  for  the 
purpose,  or  in  four-ounce  tin  cans,  and  put  in  wooden 
boxes  holding  eighteen  pounds  or  less,  for  shipping. 
The  largest  market  for  this  snuff  is  Germany.  It  is 
used  extensively,  especially  by  the  negroes,  and  to  a 
lesser  extent  by  white  people,  in  Louisiana,  Mississippi, 
Arkansas,  Texas  and  the  Indian  Territory.  Smaller 
quantities  are  used  in  all  the  States. 

Maccaboy  snuff  is  used,  both  for  inhaling  and  the 
mouth.  It  is  highly  perfumed,  the  attar  of  roses  being 
the  chief  ingredient.  It  is  consumed  largely  in  New 
England.  Until  recently,  only  Virginia  tobacco  was 
employed  in  its  manufacture,  bat  now  about  an  equal 
quantity  of  Tennessee,  or  Kentucky,  and  Virginia  is  used, 
and  it  consists  of  a  heavy  bodied  leaf  of  a  waxen  charac- 
ter. The  snuff  is  darkened  by  being  scorched  to  some  ex- 
tent, and  by  being  subjected  to  treatment  by  dark  sauces. 

Sweet  snuff  is  made,  like  Scotch  snuff,  by  treating 
the  leaves  of  tobacco  with  some  preparation  of  licorice 
before  the  snuff  is  made.  It  is  used  exclusively  for  dip- 
ping, and  finds  the  greatest  number  of  consumers  in  the 
Carolinas. 

Salting  snuff  is  made  of  the  same  character  of  to- 
bacco as  Scotch  snuff,  but  it  is  salted.  It  is  also  used 
for  the  mouth. 

Rappee  snuff  is  made  exclusively  from  Virginia 
tobacco.  It  is  manufactured  principally  in  France,  the 
tobacco  for  that  purpose  being  imported  by  the  regie 
contractors.  Years  ago,  when  the  dark  crop  of  tobacco 
was  much  larger  than  it  is  now,  the  French  government 


462  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

aimed  to  secure  for  this  purpose  a  short,  waxy  leaf,  and 
heavy  bodied,  low  grades,  but  the  area  of  dark  tobacco 
having  become  circumscribed  in  Virginia,  as  compared 
with  that  for  bright  leaf,  these  fine  grades  of  short  leaf 
and  best  lugs  have  been  in  demand  for  the  German  mar- 
kets at  such  high  prices  that  France  now  substitutes  a 
commoner  grade  of  Virginia  tobacco  for  making  rappee 
snuff.  This  lower  grade  is  soaked  in  some  decoction 
which  turns  it  black,  after  which  it  is  dried,  prized  and 
sent  to  France  for  that  purpose.  Rappee  snuff  is  used 


FIG.   133.     PLUG  TOBACCO  FACTORY  OF    J.  WHIGHT  CO.,  RICHMOND,  VA. 

altogether  for  inhaling.  The  practice  of  inhaling  snuff 
through  the  nostrils  was  once  very  common,  but  this 
habit  has  nearly  gone  out  of  use.  It  was  once  much 
affected  by  royal  personages,  and  snuff  boxes  were  con- 
sidered not  inappropriate  presents  from  one  monarch  to 
another,  or  from  kings  to  those  subjects  who  had  distin- 
guished themselves  in  the  battlefield  or  in  the  councils 
of  the  State. 

Much  of  the  information  contained  in  this  article 
was  furnished  by  Mr.  B.  F.  McKeage,  of  the  snuff  fac- 


THE  MANUFACTUKE   OF  TOBACCO.  463 

tory  belonging  to  the  Stewart-Ralph  Company,  of 
Clarksville,  Tenn.  This  factory,  under  his  management, 
is  supplied  with  the  most  modern  machinery  and  con- 
venience for  making  Scotch  snuff,  and  it  has  a  capacity 
of  8000  pounds  per  day. 

PIPE-SMOKING   TOBACCO. 

The  manufacture  of  this  article,  as  the  working  of 
tobacco  for  any  purpose,  involves  the  most  experienced 
judgment  and  knowledge  of  market  wants  and  con- 
sumers' tastes.  The  various  kinds  and  qualities  of  leaf 
are  carefully  assorted  and  brought  together  in  the 
desired  quantities  and  proportions.  The  leaf  is  then 
cut  into  flakes  and  afterwards  granulated  by  a  machine 
made  for  the  purpose.  By  straining  the  granulated 
product  through  sieves,  the  exact  size  for  pipe  smoking 
is  separated.  The  tobacco  for  granulation  should  con- 
tain enough  moisture  to  prevent  its  being  ground  into 
powder  or  snuff,  when  it  could  be  drawn  through  the 
stem  of  a  pipe  in  smoking,  causing  discomfort  to  the 
smoker.  The  granulated  tobacco  is  dampened  with 
spirits,  or  liquids,  of  special  formulas,  in  order  to  keep 
it  in  proper  condition  when  packed.  Certain  flavors  are 
also  added  to  certain  brands  in  the  process  of  manu- 
facture. Smoking  tobacco  is  packed  by  machinery  in 
cotton  sacks  of  various  colors  and  sizes,  each  holding 
from  two  ounces  to  a  pound.  The  sacks  are  provided 
with  a  draw  string  and  an  internal  revenue  stamp  is 
put  upon  each  sack.  Some  tobacco  is  not  granulated, 
but  simply  cut  into  shreds  for  smoking,  Perique  being 
often  so  prepared.  The  making  of  these  bags  consti- 
tutes an  important  department,  and  100,000  of  the 
sacks  are  produced  daily  in  the  Durham  factory  de- 
scribed herewith.  The  manufacturers'  labels  are  pasted 
upon  the  sacks  in  the  stamping  room,  and  the  filled  bags 
are  packed  in  paper  boxes,  these  being  shipped  in  wooden 


464  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

cases.  The  box  shop  and  printing  office  (Fig.  134)  is 
an  important  department  of  a  large  factory,  while  the 
packing  room  (Fig.  135,  page  476,)  is  larger  and  em- 
ploys even  more  help.  The  internal  revenue  stamps 
are  put  onto  the  packages  in  a  special  department,  called 
the  stamp  room  and  canceling  room  (Fig.  136),  in  which 
millions  of  stamps  are  used  and  canceled,  the  amount 
paid  for  stamps  by  the  Durham  Company  reaching  up- 
wards of  a  million  dollars  a  year.  A  new  machine 
automatically  packs  tobacco  in  the  bags  and  labels  them. 
The  largest  manufactory  of  pipe-smoking  tobacco 
in  the  world  is  that  of  Black  well's  Durham  Tobacco 
Company  at  Durham,  N.  C.,  the  main  building  of 
which  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  129,  and  glimpses  into  some 
of  its  departments  are  given  in  illustrations  134,  135 
and  136,  all  made  from  photographs  taken  specially  for 
this  work.  This  business  was  established  by  the  late 
John  K.  Green,  who  selected  the  famous  trade-mark  of 
the  Durham  bull  that  is  now  so  familiar  all  over  the  hab- 
itable globe,  this  trade-mark  being  an  absolute  guarantee 
of  a  quality  of  smoking  tobacco  that  never  varies  and 
never  deteriorates.  W.  T.  Blackwell  succeeded  the 
founder  of  the  business,  and  later,  Mr.  Julian  S.  Carr  be- 
came president  and  has  enormously  developed  the  busi- 
ness, which  has  resulted  in  the  development  of  a  populous 
and  prosperous  city  at  Durham.  The  premises  occupy 
13  acres  of  ground  and  the  main  factory  has  a  frontage 
of  350  feet,  exclusive  of  seven  large  warehouses  for  the 
storage  of  tobacco,  besides  outbuildings,  engine  room, 
stables,  etc.  The  company  also  manufactures  cut  plug 
tobacco  for  either  chewing  or  smoking,  and  during  the 
busy  season  employs  1000  hands. 

FINE   CUT  TOBACCO. 

Fine  cut  tobacco  is  only  the  leaf  cut  into  fine  shreds. 
The  tobacco  employed  for  this  purpose  in  the  United 


THE  MANUFACTURE   OF  TOBACCO.  465 

States  is  very  thin,  chaffy  and,  as  far  as  possible,  desti- 
tute of  gummy  matter.  It  is  stemmed,  moistened  and 
pressed  by  a  screw  into  a  trough,  and  fed  by  machinery 
to  a  series  of  knives  arranged  around  the  outer  circum- 
ference of  a  wheel.  The  wheel  is  made  to  revolve  with 
great  rapidity.  After  the  tobacco  is  cut  into  fine  shreds, 
it  is  spread  upon  trays  and  exposed  to  heat,  which 
causes  the  compressed  shreds  to  fall  apart.  The  cut 
product  is  packed  in  buckets  and  sometimes  in  boxes  or 
bags.  It  is  used  for  chewing,  smoking  and  the  manu- 
facture of  cigarettes.  When  used  for  chewing,  it  is 
sauced  with  sweet  liquids  as  plug  tobacco. 

CIGARETTES  AND  CIGARETTE  TOBACCO. 

The  manufacture  and  consumption  of  cigarettes 
has  increased  amazingly  in  the  United  States  during  the 
past  20  years.  The  production  in  the  United  States  in 
1875  was  41,000,000 ;  in  1896  it  was  4,000,000,000,  or 
nearly  100  times  as  great. 

Cigarettes  of  the  best  quality  are  made  of  tobacco 
from  three  to  four  years  old.  The  leaves  are  verv  care- 
fully selected,  stemmed  and  dried,  and  then  brought 
into  order  and  cut  into  shreds,  of  which  the  finer  qual- 
ities of  cigarettes  are  made.  It  requires  four  pounds  of 
leaf  tobacco,  or  three  pounds  of  stemmed  tobacco,  to 
make  one  thousand  cigarettes.  The  wrappers  are  of 
either  tobacco  or  paper.  When  made  of  tobacco,  the 
best  leaves  are  used  for  this  purpose,  and  the  wrappers  are 
cut  by  hand  between  the  veins,  so  that  the  small  stems, 
or  veins,  will  not  show  on  the  cigarette.  The  paper 
used  is  made  mainly  in  France  and  is  called  rice  paper. 
It  burns  without  odor  and  almost  without  ash.  It  is 
very  thin,  but  tough  and  almost  transparent,  and  is  said 
to  be  made  from  the  fiber  of  the  cocoanut  palm.  Paste 
of  the  finest  quality  is  used  for  cementing  the  wrappers  ; 
sometimes  the  wrappers  are  fastened  by  crimping  the 
30 


466  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

edges.  After  the  tobacco  is  cut,  it  is  dried  and  made 
ready  for  working,  either  by  hand  or  by  a  machine. 
The  machine  for  making  cigarettes  (of  which  there  are 
about  25  different  kinds),  although  simple  to  operate,  is 
a  wonderful  piece  of  mechanism,  which  takes  the  to- 
bacco and  converts  it  into  perfect  cigarettes  at  the  rate 
of  100,000  to  200,000  per  day  of  10  hours. 

Before  the  invention  of  this  machine,  cigarettes  were 
made  almost  entirely  by  girls,  whose  deft  fingers  enabled 
them  to  do  the  work  more  rapidly  and  more  neatly  than 
when  done  by  men.  The  average  number  made  by  each 
girl  is  about  2000  per  day,  sometimes  2500,  by  which  it 
appears  that  one  machine,  operated  at  a  minimum  capac- 
ity, can  do  the  work  of  about  50  girls  in  the  manufacture 
of  cigarettes.  A  large  number  of  girls,  however,  find 
employment  in  packing  and  stamping  the  product 
turned  out  by  the  machine.  The  packages  are  put  up 
in  a  highly  artistic  and  attractive  way,  so  as  to  catch  the 
eye  of  the  consumer. 

There  are  some  markets  in  which  the  handmade 
cigarettes  are  preferred  to  those  made  by  machinery,  and 
the  supply  for  these  markets  are  made  by  girls.  The 
all-tobacco  cigarettes  are  made  by  hand,  and  the  wrap- 
pers and  fillers  used  are  of  the  finest  selections  of  Vir- 
ginia and  Havana  tobacco.  The  fillers  are  first  pressed 
in  molds  and  then  wrapped,  just  as  cigars  are  made. 
Virginia  fillers  are  preferred  by  most  manufacturers. 
An  expert  maker  of  cigarettes  can  earn  from  $1.50  to  $2 
per  day.  All-tobacco  cigarettes  require  the  greatest 
care  in  the  selection  of  suitable  tobacco. 

One  of  the  leading  manufacturers  of  cigarettes  in 
Eichmond,  Va.,  Cameron  &  Cameron,  blend  together, 
for  making  cigarettes,  various  kinds  of  tobacco,  embrac- 
ing the  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Turkish,  Perique, 
Havana,  Latakio  and  Brazilian.  The  manipulation  of 
so  many  kinds  can  be  successfully  accomplished  only  by 


THE  MANUFACTURE  OF  TOBACCO.  467 

long  experience,  good  judgment,  acquaintance  with  the 
markets  and  with  the  tastes  of  the  consumers.  Two 
weeks  are  required  from  the  time  the  tobacco  goes  into 
the  factory  until  it  conies  out  in  the  form  of  cigarettes. 

THE  MAKING  OF   CIGARS. 

This  is  "'easy  enough  when  you  know  how,"  but  as 
has  been  stated  (Pages  71-75),  the  ins  and  outs  of  mak- 
ing cigars  are  to  be  learned  only  by  practical  experience. 
The  selection  of  the  qualities  of  leaf  for  the  different 
parts  of  the  cigar  requires  a  peculiar  combination  of  ex- 
perience, knowledge  and  taste,  that  brings  to  its  happy 
possessor  a  large  salary  in  the  great  cigar  factories.  The 
leaf,  or  part  of  ib  for  the  cigar,  is  often  treated  with 
sauces,  or  special  preparations,  to  improve  its  quality, 
to  hide  its  inferiorities,  or  to  suit  certain  tastes.  It 
must  also  be  properly  moistened  to  work  nicely.  In 
Havana,  Catalan  wine  is  sometimes  put  in  the  water  in 
which  fillers  are  immersed,  to  improve  the  quality. 

The  regulations  of  the  internal  revenue  bureau  im- 
pose strict  accountability  upon  cigar  makers,  as  well  as 
upon  manufacturers  of  other  leaf,  for  all  of  the  tobacco 
they  use.  Evasion  of  these  rules  is  heavily  punished, 
and  the  system  has  been  reduced  to  an  almost  perfect 
state,  to  secure  the  utmost  amount  of  revenue  from  the 
taxes  imposed,  with  the  least  interference  with  the 
trade,  or  inconvenience  to  manufacturers.  The  maker 
of  cigars  has  to  conform  to  government  rules,  and  this 
involves  certain  restrictions.  The  government  even 
limits  the  number  of  pounds  of  cigar  leaf  required  for 
certain  purposes,  and  every  bit  of  leaves,  stems,  waste, 
etc.,  must  be  accounted  for.  The  allowance  is  25 
pounds  of  .wrappers,  binders  and  fillers  for  1000  cigars. 
The  way  in  which  this  quantity  is  divided  varies  accord- 
ing to  the  kind  of  cigars  made  and  quality  of  product. 
Two  pounds  of  the  very  finest  quality  of  Sumatran  leaf 


468  TOBACCO    LEAF. 

has  wrapped  1000  five-inch,  handmade  cigars,  and  four 
or  five  pounds  finest  quality  domestic  seedleaf,  but  a  less 
amount  is  required  to  wrap  form-made  cigars.  An 
experienced  manufacturer  estimates  as  a  fair  average 
four  pounds  wrappers,  nine  pounds  binders  and  twelve 
pounds  fillers  to  make  1000  cigars  of  ordinary  size  and 
good  quality ;  another  says  five,  eight  and  twelve  pounds 
respectively,  and  still  another,  seven,  seven  and  eleven 
pounds. 

Machinery  has  already  invaded  the  field  of  cigar 
manufacture.  At  present,  however,  only  about  12  per 
cent  of  the  cigar  factories  of  the  United  States  are  suffi- 
ciently large  to  profitably  employ  the  most  modern 
method  of  machinery.  In  Europe,  still  fewer  factories 
are  of  sufficient  size  to  warrant  the  investment  necessary 
in  a  machine  plant,  except  in  the  Kegie  countries.  The 
history  of  the  development  of  the  application  of  ma- 
chinery to  cigar  making  is  full  of  interest.  The  suction 
roller  table  has,  to  a  certain  extent,  revolutionized  cigar 
manufacture,  and,  at  the  present  time,  it  is  claimed  that 
about  one-fifth  of  the  cigars  made  in  the  United  States 
are  rolled  upon  it.  Many  of  the  cheap  cigars  are  made 
in  the  larger  factories,  either  throughout  or  in  part,  by 
machinery.  One  of  the  most  useful  and  most  common 
is  the  stripping  machine,  which  contains  a  small  round 
knife  that  cuts  the  stem  out  clean,  without  tearing  the 
leaf.  Space  forbids  a  detailed  description  of  the  various 
machines  employed.  Even  the  details  of  cigar  making  by 
hand,  vary  with  different  workmen  and  in  different  fac- 
tories, but  the  bulk  of  the  cigars  consumed  in  the  United 
States  are  still  made  by  hand  or  form.  Cigar  makers 
are  thoroughly  organized  and  obtain  excellent  wages. 
The  handmade  method  of  cigar  manufacture  is  about  as 
follows  : 

Casing. — When  the  manufacturer  opens  the  one  or 
more  cases,  or  bales,  of  tobacco  he  has  purchased  to  carry 


THE   MANUFACTURE   OF  TOBACCO.  469 

on  his  business,  he  finds  the  contents  very  dry  and 
breakable.  This  dry  tobacco  has  to  be  carefully  taken 
out,  as  needed,  piece  by  piece,  shaken  gently  to  separate 
the  leaves,  dipped  thoroughly  in  a  tub  of  water  and  re- 
moved, or  well  drenched  with  a  sprinkling  pot,  and  left 
to  "draw"  over  night.  It  is  then  moist  and  pliable, 
and  ready  for  stripping. 

Stripping. — This  is  done  mostly  by  girls  and  women, 
and  consists  in  stemming  and  booking.  The  worker  is 
given  a  quantity  of  tobacco,  and  she  first  takes  the  stem 
out  of  each  leaf  and  puts  the  divided  leaf  in  a  little  pile. 
Then,  when  she  thinks  she  has  enough  stemmed  tobacco, 
say  for  a  pad,  she  smooths  out  over  her  knee,  or  books, 
each  piece,  and  when  she  has  enough  for  a  pad  (the 
weight  may  or  may  not  be  defined),  she  doubles  the 
smoothed-out  pile  over  once  and  ties  it  up,  and  this 
tied-up  bunch  is  the  pad.  Of  course,  the  wrapper  strip- 
per is  given  the  finest  and  most  costly  tobacco,  that 
which  is  to  be  used  for  the  outside  of  the  cigar,  and  as 
even  this  contains  a  good  deal  of  inferior  leaf,  she  must 
throw  aside  such  into  the  binder  pile,  and  it  is  included 
by  the  binder  stripper  in  the  binder-leaf  tobacco  that 
has  been  given  her  to  strip.  Sometimes  there  is  a  leaf 
selector,  who  does  nothing  but  sort  out  the  inferior  leaf 
from  the  unstemmed  wrappers,  and  then  the  wrapper 
stripper  does  not  have  to  stop  to  do  any  sorting  herself. 
It  is  only  the  expert  stripper,  she  who  has  the  best  and 
most  practical  understanding  of  the  kind  of  leaf  requi- 
site for  wrapping  cigars,  and  who  has  the  delicacy  of 
touch  and  the  trained  eye  for  color  to  enable  her  to 
make  a  quick  decision  of  the  unsuitability  for  wrappers 
of  the  leaf  she  handles,  who  is  accepted  as  a  wrapper 
stripper,  and  she,  of  course,  is  given  higher  wages  than 
the  handler  of  binders  and  fillers.  The  fillers  are  partly 
stemmed  and  thrown  carelessly  into  a  pile,  except  the 
finer  grades,  which  are  more  often  booked.  The  fillers 


470 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


THE   MANUFACTURE  OF  TOBACCO.  471 

that  are  not  booked  sometimes  get  too  dry  for  use,  when 
they  are  moistened,  and  also  often  treated  with  a  flavor- 
ing preparation. 

Preparing  for  Work. — The  workman  sits  at  a  table, 
which  contains  a  drawer  for  waste,  and  on  which  is 
placed  a  rack  for  holding  the  cigars  he  makes ;  he  has 
also,  attached  to  his  table,  a  "board"  of  some  hard 
material,  on  which  he  rolls  his  cigars,  a  stationary  knife 
(tuck  cutter)  for  cutting  them  off  the  desired  length,  a 
box  of  gum  tragacanth  colored  with  licorice  to  make 
it  of  the  color  of  tobacco,  with  which  he  pastes  the  ends 
of  tobacco  around  the  tip  or  head  of  the  cigar,  and  a 
smaller  knife  to  cut  the  leaf.  At  his  side  is  a  box  of 
fillers.  On  the  table  at  the  left  is  a  pad  of  wrappers, 
unbound,  and  covered  over  with  a  damp  cloth,  and  in 
front  a  pad  of  binders.  He  is  now  ready  to  go  to  work. 

The  Making  of  Handmade  Cigars. — The  work- 
man takes  a  wrapper  leaf  from  under  the  cloth  at  his 
left,  spreads  it  out  on  his  board,  and  cuts  it  into  one, 
two  or  three  wrappers  (remember,  that  what  is  now  called 
the  leaf  is  but  half  of  the  original  leaf,  since  the  middle 
stem  has  been  taken  out).  If  this  leaf  (that  is,  half 
leaf)  is  very  fine,  he  can,  perhaps,  cut  three  wrappers, 
but  generally  this  is  not  done,  as  the  veins  are  likely  to 
get  too  thick  as  you  get  down  to  the  butt  of  the  leaf, 
and  it  will  not  do  to  have  the  thick  veins  show  on  the 
cigar  covering.  Sometimes,  in  large  factories,  the  Su- 
matra is  divided  into  three  parts,  No.  1,  2  and  3.  If 
the  workman  gets  a  pad  marked  No.  1,  he  knows  he  is 
expected  to  get  one  wrapper  out  of  each  leaf ;  No.  2  re- 
quires two  wrappers,  and  from  No.  3  he  is  expected  to 
cut  three  wrappers.  The  wrapper  being  cut  into,  say, 
two  pieces,  the  workman  lays  them  to  one  side,  throwing 
what  is  left  into  his  drawer.  Next,  he  takes  a  binder, 
lays  it  on  the  board,  breaks  it  into  a  large  and  small 
piece,  throws  the  bits  not  wanted  into  the  drawer,  then 


472  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

takes  the  larger  piece  and  smooths  it  out,  lays  the 
smaller  piece  on  top  of  it  for  the  inside  lining,  gathers 
up  a  handful  of  fillers,  which  he  makes  of  the  right 
thickness  and  nearly  the  right  length,  then  puts  this 
filler  bunch  inside  the  binder  and  rolls  it  up  smoothly 
by  hand.  If  the  filler  is  not  put  into  the  binder  straight, 
the  binder  will  roll  up  twisted  and  the  cigar  will  smoke 
one-sided.  When  the  binder  is  rolled  up  over  the  filler, 
then  the  wrapper  is  rolled  on,  tucking  it  well  in  at  the 
beginning,  and  rounding  it  to  a  more  or  less  pointed  tip 
or  head,  which  is  pasted  together  with  the  gum  traga- 
canth,  cutting  the  head  neatly  around  with  the  hand  knife. 
In  some  factories,  a  thimble  is  used  to  more  perfectly 
and  neatly  shape  the  head.  Then  the  cigar  is  set  under 
the  stationary  knife,  or  tuck  cutter,  and  cut  off  the  de- 
sired length  at  the  butt  or  tuck,  the  name  being  derived 
from  the  careful  tucking  in  of  the  wrapper  at  this  place. 
This  cutter  contains  a  movable  contrivance  for  measur- 
ing the  desired  length  of  cigar,  which  varies  from  three 
to  seven  inches.  The  cigar  is  now  finished  and  set  in 
the  rack,  head  front. 

Form  Cigars. — These  are  made  the  same  as  the 
handmade,  except  that  the  bunch  of  fillers  is  not  so 
thick,  and  is  put  into  a  wooden  form  of  any  desired 
shape,  which  varies  from  a  Perfecto  shape,  which  is 
pointed  at  both  ends,  to  a  straight  cigar,  of  even  thick- 
ness all  the  way  through.  These  molds  usually  hold 
twenty  bunches.  When  the  mold  is  filled,  it  is  placed 
under  a  press  for  seven  or  eight  hours,  or  longer,  when 
the  bunches  are  ready  to  be  taken  out  and  covered  with 
the  wrapper.  These  form  cigars  are  usually  of  an  infe- 
rior grade  to  the  handmade,  and  do  not  require  such 
expert  workmanship.  Of  course,  high-grade  cigars  can 
be  made  with  the  form,  but  the  smoker  generally  gets 
more  for  his  money  in  the  handmade,  in  which  the 
filler  bunch  is  more  solid,  causing  the  cigar  to  be  filled 


THE  MANUFACTURE   OF  TOBACCO.  473 

with  more  smoking  material.  In  some  large  factories, 
however,  the  "handmade"  workman  is  required  to  use 
a  shaper,  a  small  mold  that  will  contain  and  shape  one 
banch  while  another  is  being  got  ready.  This  workman 
need  not  be  so  expert  in  his  ability  to  make  the  cigar  of 
just  the  required  shape  from  the  sense  of  feeling  as  is 
the  genuine  handmade  worker. 

Packing. — The  filled  rack  of  cigars  is  taken  from 
the  workman's  table  into  the  packing  room,  and  the 
packer,  who  must  be  an  expert  at  distinguishing  colors, 
sorts  the  cigars  into  the  five  common  colors,  the  cigar 
being  "stronger"  as  the  color  grows  darker.  The 
packer  also  inserts  the  box  scent,  then  tacks  down  the 
cover. 

The  Flavoring  or  Scent. — Inferior  fillers  are  often 
"doctored"  with  sharp-flavored  liquids  to  improve  their 
taste,  such  as  rum  and  water,  alcohol  and  water,  various 
sour  wines,  cider,  vinegar,  etc.  Box  scent,  so-called,  is 
not  necessarily  used  to  cover  imperfections,  but  to  keep 
the  cigars,  which  are  sometimes  shut  up  for  a  long  time, 
and  would  likely  suffer  from  atmospheric  changes,  in 
good  flavor  and  smell.  Still,  this  scent  has  a  good  deal 
to  do  with  the  popularity  of  even  fine-grade  goods,  and 
the  secret  of  its  various  combinations  is  impossible  to 
discover  from  the  manufacturer  who  makes  a  popular 
brand.  Various  articles  are,  of  course,  used,  among 
them  being  Spanish  licorice,  rum,  lemon,  cedar,  vanilla 
bean,  the  oils  of  various  spices,  and  so  on  ad  infinitum. 
Then  there  are  many  flavors  on  the  market,  but  the 
secret  of  their  manufacture  is  kept,  and  while  a  good 
deal  of  these  prepared  flavors  is  bought,  the  ambitious 
manufacturer  is  ever  on  the  alert  to  discover  some  more 
popular  combination.  The  packer  sprinkles  a  little  of 
the  scent  he  is  required  to  use  in  the  bottom  of  the  box, 
or  on  the  top  or  middle  row  of  cigars. 

The  Waste. — The  bits  from  the  wrappers  and  bind- 


474 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


ers  in  the  workman's  drawer,  together  with  refuse  left 
from  the  fillers  that  were  too  short  to  be  used  as  such, 
and  the  tucks  that  are  cut  off  from  the  cigar  in  measur- 
ing its  length,  are  dried  and  run  through  a  sieve,  and 
thus  made  into  scraps,  of  which  the  cheapest  or  scrap 
cigars  are  made,  these  siftings  being  used  as  filling. 
They  are  also  used  to  manufacture  cigarettes.  These 
scraps  are,  in  turn,  run  through  a  finer  sieve,  and  the 
comparatively  very  small  amount  of  dust  that  runs 
through,  which  consists  of  about  five  per  cent  of  the 
whole  amount  of  tobacco  used,  is  employed  for  snuff,  or 
sold  for  fertilizing  purposes. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

TOBACCO   AS   A   REMEDY. 

Tobacco  has  almost  passed  out  of  the  materia 
medica  in  the  modern  practice  of  medicine.  Rarely  is  it 
now  prescribed  for  any  ailment  whatever,  though  at  one 
time  it  was  thought  to  be  a  specific  for  many  diseases. 
Within  recent  years,  however,  attention  has  again  been 
directed  to  tobacco  as  a  remedial  agent,  through  the 
efforts  of  the  late  Gen.  T.  L.  Clingman,  of  North  Car- 
olina, who  for  many  years  represented  that  State  in  Con- 
gress, first  as  a  representative  and  then  as  a  senator. 
Gen.  Clingman  believes  there  is  no  remedy  so  effective 
for  relieving  wounds,  bruises,  sprains,  etc.,  as  tobacco 
applied  externally,  in  the  form  of  a  poultice.  He  cured 
a  severe  sprain  of  the  ankle  by  poulticing  it  with  wet 
tobacco  leaves  and  keeping  them  moist.  A  severe  gun- 
shot wound  of  the  leg  was  cured  by  wrapping  the  limb 
in  leaf  tobacco  covered  with  wet  cloths.  An  injury  to 
his  eye  was  also  cured  by  a  wet  tobacco  poultice.  Its 
effect  seems  to  be  to  take  out  all  the  inflammation,  and 
where  promptly  applied,  Gen.  Clingman  claims,  any 
external  wound  cannot  become  sufficiently  inflamed  to 
cause  mortification.  In  case  of  his  eye,  sight  was  given 
up  by  all  the  doctors,  but  after  the  tobacco  poultice  had 
been  kept  on  five  days,  the  eye  resumed  its  natural 
appearance  and  the  sight  was  fully  restored.  He  reports 
physicians  using  a  tobacco  poultice  since  then,  and  cites 
many  instances  of  its  successful  application  for  sore  eyes, 
sore  throat,  erysipelas  (some  very  bad  cases),  sciatica, 
bunions,  corns,  bites,  boils,  tumors,  swelling  of  various 
475 


476 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


TOBACCO  AS   A   EEMEDY.  477 

kinds,  colds  and  similar  troubles.  When  the  wet 
tobacco  is  applied,  says  General  Clingman,  the  first 
effect  is  stimulating.  In  twenty  or  thirty  minutes,  how- 
ever, the  sedative  effect  is  perceived.  When  it  is  placed 
on  the  eyelids,  as  some  of  the  juice  gets  into  the  eye, 
there  is  usually  an  itching  sensation  and  a  little  pain, 
but  in  a  few  minutes  this  passes  off  and  there  is  no  more 
feeling  than  if  a  wet  cloth  were  applied.  Most  persons 
sleep  under  the  influence,  but  some  do  not,  as  it  is  a 
nerve  tonic  as  well  as  a  sedative.  If  the  tobacco  be 
applied  only  to  the  affected  parts,  no  nausea  will  be  felt 
until  the  inflammation  has  been  subdued,  when  the 
bandage  should  be  removed.  Generally,  two  hours  after 
application  a  sedative  effect  is  attained,  but  in  obstinate 
cases  a  much  longer  time  may  be  required. 

Leaf  tobacco  should  be  used  for  the  poultices,  but  if 
this  is  not  practicable,  manufactured,  or  plug,  tobacco, 
well  softened  in  water,  may  be  applied,  but  the  latter 
frequently  contains  drugs  that  may  interfere  with  its 
usefulness.  The  darker  leaves  are  stronger  and  better 
than  the  light  yellow  leaves.  Leaves  of  plants  cut  last 
year  are  better  than  those  freshly  cut,  as  tobacco  seems 
to  gather  strength  with  age.  A  bunch  of  these  leaves, 
thrown  into  a  bowl  of  cold  water,  will  become  moist  and 
soft,  so  that  the  large  stem  in  the  center  may  be  taken 
out.  Hot  water  will  answer  the  purpose  sooner  than 
cold,  but  either  will  do.  When  this  is  done,  not  less 
than  two  thicknesses  of  the  leaf  should  be  placed 
directly  on  the  part  to  be  relieved.  As,  however,  the 
heat  of  the  skin  tends  to  dry  the  tobacco  in  a  few  min- 
utes, a  wet  bandage  must  be  laid  over  it.  About  four 
thicknesses  of  common  white  cotton  cloth  will  be  suffi- 
cient, but  this  should  be  well  soaked  in  the  water  before 
it  is  put  on,  then  a  bandage  of  the  same  cloth  may  be 
tied  over  it,  and  water  from  time  to  time  should  be  ap- 
plied by  pressing  a  wet  rag  on  it,  so  as  to  keep  the 


478 


TOBACCO  LEAF. 


TOBACCO   AS   A   REMEDY.  479 

tobacco  moist.  "When  one  wishes  to  cure  a  bunion  or 
corn,  after  the  tobacco  has  been  applied  as  above 
directed,  it  is  easy  to  get  the  sock  over  it,  and  by  moist- 
ening the  sock  from  time  to  time,  a  cure  is  usually 
effected  in  a  single  night. 

General  Clingman,  speaking  of  cases  coming  under 
his  own  observation,  says:  "All  cases  of  erysipelas, 
whether  on  the  head  or  face,  or  any  other  part  of  the 
body,  are  cured.  In  some  cases,  where  the  head  was 
swollen  to  almost  double  size,  and  the  patient  was  sup- 
posed by  the  attending  physician  about  to  die,  an  appli- 
cation of  tobacco  effected  a  complete  cure.  Again,  all 
cases  of  sore  eyes,  whether  caused  by  injury  or  disease, 
and  whether  old  cases,  or  fresh  ones,  have  been  cured. 
In  some  cases,  where  there  was  total  blindness,  a  cure 
was  at  once  effected  and  the  sight  restored  perfectly. 
In  the  third  place,  all  wounds,  whether  cuts,  braises  or 
contusions,  have  been  easily  cured.  Sprains  of  the  knee 
or  ankle  joints,  where  they  were  swollen  to  double  the 
natural  size,  have  been  completely  cured  by  a  single 
night's  application.  Old  cases,  where  the  patient  has 
suffered  for  months  and  years,  have  been  cured.  Cases 
of  sore  throat  are  cured,  whether  caused  by  diphtheria, 
croup,  scarlet  fever,  or  quinsy.  In  more  than  one 
instance,  the  patient  was  cured  when  seemingly  at  the 
point  of  death,  and  the  case  pronounced  hopeless  by  the 
attending  physician.  Bone  felons  have  been  cured, 
usually  by  a  single  night's  application  of  the  tobacco." 

General  Clingman  was  informed  of  a  number  of 
cases  in  which  the  tobacco  was  applied  as  a  remedy  for 
hemorrhoids,  and  in  every  instance  a  single  night's 
application  is  represented  to  have  effected  a  cure.  If 
tobacco  should  be  applied  to  a  wound,  neither  mortifica- 
tion nor  lockjaw  would  ever  supervene.  In  one  case  of 
lockjaw,  where  the  surgeon  had  pronounced  the  case 
hopeless,  according  to  the  public  statement  of  a  gentle- 


480 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


man,  a  cure,  it  is  asserted,  was  effected  by  the  application 
of  a  tobacco  poultice  to  the  stomach. 

For  cholera  morbus,  an  application  of  tobacco  to  the 
stomach,  it  is  said,  gives  relief.  A  senator  told  him 
that  when  suffering  constipation  most  terribly  he  had 


FIG.  137.     A  PEEP    INTO  THE  "DURHAM"  OFFICE  (See  Page  403). 

two  physicians  with  him  for  two  days  and  nights,  with 
no  advantage  from  their  remedies,  and  when  the  pain 
became  so  intolerable  that  he  felt  that  he  would  not  get 
through  the  night,  he  caused  a  poultice  of  tobacco  to  be 
applied  to  his  side  and  back,  and  in  half  an  hour  he  was 
relieved  and  immediately  recovered.  Again,  a  great 


TOBACCO   AS   A   EEMEDT.  481 

many  cases  of  neuralgia,  whether  the  case  was  accom- 
panied with  inflammation  or  not,  General  Clingman  says, 
have  been  cured  by  tobacco.  In  one  case,  the  patient 
said  his  eye  was  so  much  inflamed  that  it  seemed  about 
to  burst,  and  the  application  effected  a  complete  cure. 
Physicians  in  some  parts  of  North  Carolina  aver  that  all 
cases  of  orchitis  are  cured  by  tobacco,  and  usually  in  one 
night. 

Tobacco  is  a  very  valuable  insecticide  for  use  against 
vermin  on  domestic  animals,  and  in  the  greenhouse,  as 
well  as  for  other  pests.  It  may  be  used  in  the  form  of  a 
decoction,  in  smoke,  or  dry.  The  refuse  stems  and 
powders  from  the  cigar  factories  are  very  valuable  as 
insecticides  and  fertilizers,  and  frequently,  in  the  Mid- 
dle Western  States,  they  may  be  obtained  for  little,  or 
nothing.  The  decoction  is  made  by  boiling  refuse  to- 
bacco stems  or  dust  in  water,  or  pouring  water  over 
them.  This  gives  a  concentrated  liquid,  which  is  to  be 
diluted  with  cold  water,  until  there  are  two  gallons  of 
water  for  each  pound  of  tobacco  used.  It  is  a  good 
remedy  for  plant  lice.  A  stronger  formula,  recom- 
mended b\  Mr.  M.  V.  Slingerland,  is  to  steep  five 
pounds  of  tobacco  stems  in  three  gallons  of  water  for 
three  hours;  then  strain,  and  dilute  with  enough  water 
to  make  seven  gallons,  when  the  decoction  is  ready  to 
use.  A  cheap  grade  of  tobacco  is  employed  in  making  a 
sheep  wash.  About  20  pounds  of  tobacco  is  steeped,  or 
boiled,  in  40  gallons  of  water,  and  the  sheep  dipped  in 
the  liquid.  This  is  a  sure  remedy  for  ticks  and  other 
vermin ;  and  is  of  frequent  use  by  the  flockmasters  of 
the  West. 

No  application  to  young  fruit  trees  is  so  effective  in 
destroying  grubs  and  other  pests  as  tobacco.  Tobacco 
stalks  may  be  used  for  the  purpose.  They  are  piled  up 
around  the  roots  of  the  trees,  about  a  large  armful  to 
each  tree.  These  stalks  are  also  an  excellent  fertilizer 
31 


482  TOBACCO   LEAF. 

for  the  young  trees,  stimulating  their  growth  without 
producing  a  dryness  in  the  soil,  or  attracting  vermin,  as 
stable  manure  often  does.  After  the  decay  of  the  stalks, 
the  ground  is  left  mellow  and  moist. 

Tobacco  stems  are  an  excellent  top-dressing  for 
young  grass.  They  conserve  moisture  and  add  fertility 
to  the  soil.  Applied  to  wheat  fields  in  autumn,  in  any 
form, — leaves,  stalks  or  stems, — tobacco  exerts  the  most 
beneficent  influence,  both  on  the  character  of  the  growth 
and  the  quality  of  the  berry.  In  a  pulverized  condition, 
it  makes  one  of  the  best  applications  for  seed  beds.  Put 
in  the  hills  where  the  tobacco  plant  is  to  be  set,  it 
greatly  aids  the  growth  and  improves  the  quality  of  the 
cured  product. 


APPENDIX. 


CHEMICAL  ANALYSES. 

STATISTICS  OF  YIELD  AND  MANUFACTURE. 

PRICES  IN  HOME  AND  FOREIGN  MARKETS. 

TAXATION  AND  CONSUMPTION. 

BOOKS  ON  TOBACCO. 

INDEX. 


APPENDIX. 


CHEMICAL  ANALYSES  OF  THE  TOBACCO  PLANT. 


R.  J.  Davidson,  at  the  Virginia  experiment  station,  is  doing 
(1890-'97)  a  great  amount  of  original  analytical  work  of  practical  value, 
from  which  we  condense  the  following  : 

Table  IX.— COMPOSITION  OF  VIRGINIA  LEAF  (AVERAGE  OF  MATURE 

BRADLEY    BHOADLEAF,  GOLD    FINDER,  PLANTS  OF 
WHITE  BURLEY  AND  YELLOW  ORINOCO). 


100  Ibs.  of  each  part 
of  the  plant  contains 

Leaf. 
55.03 

7.62 
21.59 
70.79 

Stalk. 

Root. 

Leaf. 

Stalk. 

Root. 

Percent,  of  parts  of  plant, 
100  Ibs.  each  part  contains 
Water  

21.87 

G.18 
13.28 
80.54 

23.10 

6.22 
8.14 
85.64 

7.62 

4.37 

5.74 
5.43 
0.96 
0.50 
1.94 
73.44 

6.18 

3.17 

5.02 
2.22 
0.59 
0.65 
0.66 
81.51 

6.22 

1.88 

1.78 
1.28 
0.21 
0.21 
2.88 
86.54 

Ash  
Vegetable  matter  

Total  

100.00 
4.37 

26.60 
25.21 
4.43 
2.33 
9.01 
32.42 

100.00 
3.17 

37.78 
16.81 
4.44 
4.79 
4.92 
31.26 

100.00 
1.88 

22.07 
15.95 
2.54 
2.50 
34.98 
21.96 

100  Ibs.  of  the  ash  contains 
Potash 

Lime  

Magnesia  
Phosphoric  acid  
Insoluble  matter  
Other  substances  
Total  

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

Analyses  of  seed  of  ten  varieties  of  Virginia  tobacco  show  that  the 
air-dried  seed  contains  5J  to  6  per  cent  of  water,  of  nitrogen  3.44  to 
3.78  per  cent,  and  of  ash  3  to  4  per  cent.  Of  the  ash,  about  one-third  is 
phosphoric  acid,  one-third  potash  and  one-fifth  magnesia.  The  ash  of 
the  seed  contains  over  ten  times  as  much  phosphoric  acid,  about  four 
times  as  much  magnesia  and  nearly  one-fourth  more  potash  than  the 
ash  of  tobacco  leaf. 

Analyses  of  the  whole  platit,— root,  stem  and  leaf ,— at  three  stages 
of  growth,  calculated  from  the  average  results  for  three  leading  vari- 
eties (White  Burley,  Medley  Pryor  and  Yellow  Orinoco)  show  that 
their  composition  at  these  three  stages  is  alike  only  in  nitrogen,  soda 

485 


486 


TOBACCO    LEAF. 


and  magnesia.  As  would  be  expected,  the  plant  from  the  plant  bed 
has  the  highest  percentage  of  moisture.  It  also  shows  the  highest  ash, 
phosphoric  acid  and  potash.  These  last  two  ingredients  gradually 
diminish  as  the  age  of  the  plant  increases,  thus  showing  I  hat,  the 
young  plant  requires  a  large  amount  of  potash  and  phosphoric  acid. 
The  percentages  of  lime  and  chlorine  are  just  the  reverse  of  the  phos- 
phoric acid  and  potash,  as  they  increase  with  the  age  of  the  plant. 
The  percentage  of  the  insoluble  matter  is  comparatively  small  in  the 
plant  from  the  plant  bed,  and  is  only  about  one-fourth  as  much  as  at 
the  time  of  topping  and  cutting.  It  appears  that  the  plant  taken  from 
the  plant  bed  contains,  in  the  air-dried  state,  nearly  three  per  cent  of 
nitrogen,  nearly  1  per  cent  of  phosphoric  acid,  over  8  per  cent  of  pot- 
ash and  about 2J  percent  of  lime.  Taken  at  the  time  of  topping,  it 
contains  about  3  per  cent  of  nitrogen,  one-third  of  1  per  cent  of  phos- 
phoric acid,  about  4  per  cent  of  potash  and  over  2  per  cent  of  lime. 
Taken  at  time  of  cutting,  it  contains  nearly  three  per  cent  of  nitrogen, 
one-third  of  1  per  cent  of  phosphoric  acid,  nearly  3J  per  cent  of  potash 
and  over  3J  per  cent  of  lime. 

F.  G.  Carpenter  has  also  done  much  analytical  work  at  the  North 
Carolina  experiment,  station,  so  have  Johnson  and  Jenkins  at  the  Con- 
necticut station,  Goessman  at  Amherst,  Frear  at  the  Pennsylvania 
station,  and  others  at  the  experiment  stations  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Louisiana,  Alabama  and  Wisconsin.  All  this  work  is  bringing  out 
much  valuable  data  in  addition  to  the  chemical  inquiries  into  tobacco, 
conducted  by  Dr.  Gideon  E.  Moore  for  the  tenth  census,  from  which 
the  following  table  is  compiled : 

Table  X.— AVERAGE  COMPOSITION  OF  CIGAR  LEAF  (POLE  CURED). 


e| 

II 

c3 

a 

i 

a 
1 

s"< 
& 
ft 

ft 

i 

6 

1 

5) 

1 

cS 

•« 
| 

OK 

5 

a 

03 

1 

'2 

X 

£ 

03 

g 

g 

Av.  12  Conn,  crops.. 

0.14 

1  .55 

1.09 

0.59 

5.71 

136 

579 

0.33 

16.55 

4.?4 

New  Milford,  Ct.... 

0.21 

0.33 

0.62 

0.48 

6.10 

1.71 

5.20 

trace 

15.10 

4.97 

Hartford,  Ct  

0.20 

2.14 

0.62 

0.61 

5.«:i 

1.40 

7.66 

0.05 

18.56 

4.10 

Pa.,  Lancaster  Co.. 

0.19 

0,?7 

0.47 

1  .03 

5.13 

1.47 

893 

0.06 

17.!  IS 

?70 

Ohio  

0.44 

0.22 

0.49 

0.61 

4.93 

2.46 

4.75 

0.04 

14.22 

4.42 

Wis.  and  111  

0.72 

0.15 

o.i;o 

0.48 

5.17 

1.94 

5.97 

0.17 

15.52 

5.23 

Average  

0.35 

0.66 

-6^4 

0.62 

5,50 

1.67 

6.20 

0.10 

16.19 

4.12 

Omitting  from  the  above  the  percentage  of  nitrogen  in  Pennsyl- 
vania seedleaf,  which  is  exceptionally  low,  the  average  of  the  other 
samples  gives  4.44  per  cent  of  nitrogen  In  pole-cured  tobacco  leaves. 

Table  XI.— THE  AMERICAN  TOBACCO  CROP. 

The  United  States  crop  of  1849  WHS  returned  by  the  census  at 
199,753,000  pounds,  and  of  1859  at  434,209,000.  The  census  for  1869  was 
incomplete  in  the  South,  .and,  especially  in  North  Carolina,  has  been 
imperfect  since.  That  State  was  credited  with  only  36,000,000 
pounds  in  1889  by  the  llth  census,  W.  W.  Wood's  elaborate  inquiries 


APPENDIX. 


487 


show  it  to  have  been  76,000,000.  The  census  figures  are  used  below, 
except  that  American  Agriculturist's  returns  for  1895  are  given.  Weights 
are  in  thousands  of  pounds,  last  three  figures  (OOO's)  omitted. 


THE   AMERICAN   TOBACCO   CROP. 


TOBACCO  BY  STATES. 

Number  of  Acres. 

Weight  of  crop. 

In  thousands  of  pounds,  last  three 
ciphers  omitted. 

1895. 
1^253 

54 
108 
2,863 

8,077 
5,712 

19,439 
210,844 

19,950 

97,654 
4,400 
125.S40 
500 
1,000 
1,500 
74,252 
40,401 
6,185 
3,460 
25 
11,381 
50 
150 
12,450 

150 

;:;7,<i7:i 
jss.ni; 

45,C,07 
800 
500 
150 
500 

2,000 
80 

2 

6 

30 
20 
50 
699,102 

1889. 
44,080 

67 

50 
2,012 

6,331 
8,629 
45 
26,955 
234,981 
20 
20,274 

110,579 
4,647 
97,077 
394 
800 
1,190 
86,787 
44,303 
9,373 
4,155 
22 
17,241 
49 
124 
11,350 
2 
1 
46 
123 
•;•_".».  :•,-'.> 
J74.5H7 
51.471 
679 
234 
109 
423 

1,876 

2 
6 

25 
12 
27 
695,301 

1879. 

1895. 

1889. 

1879. 

1869. 

North  Atlantic  Division  .... 
Maine 

44,854 

88 
84 
3,358 
2 
8,666 
4,937 
152 
27.506 
141,480 
4 
38,174 
2 
40,791 
4,071 
57,  'JOS 
169 
971 
90 
78,038 
34,676 
11,955 
5,612 
170 
8,810 
163 
692 
15,521 
6 

101 
333 

J74,:;-."j 
±>c,,i-jo 
41,532 
2,197 
1,471 
253 
685 

2,064 
147 

1 

2 
2 
8 
43 
84 
174,173 

44,933 

95 
170 

4,556 

14,067 
7,267 

18,778 
92,297 

14,962 

39,939 
1,760 
94,336 
200 
350 
730 
46,370 
23,433 
4,330 
2,214 
15 
9,958 
30 
90 
6,225 

75 

j.v_'.i;<Mi 
•JM.MS7 

34isSSI 
320 
200 
60 
250 

800 
72 

18 
14 
40 
496,278 

50,133 

87 
71 
2,795 

8,875 
9,316 
33 
28,956 
100,844 
30 
12,357 
23 
48,523 
2,602 
36,375 
223 
264 
470 
77,604 
37,854 
7,710 
3,043 
12 
19,389 
23 
74 
9,425 
1 
10 
11 

259,651 

_"_'!.  ssi  i 
;;i;.;;i;s 
163 
62 
47 
176 

955 
25 

2 

7 
3 
13 
488,257 

63,313 

171 

131 
5,369 

14,045 
6,481 
172 
36,943 
136,051 
1 
26,082 

79,989 

!>,'_>% 

26,986 
46 
229 
21 
70,994 
34,735 
8,873 
3,936 
84 
10,608 
70 
420 
12,016 
2 

58 
192 

202,600 
171,121 
29,365 
452 
415 
56 
221 

970 
101 

1 
1 

2 

7 
17 
73 
110,131 

21,730 
15 
155 
73 
7,313 
1 
8,329 
2,350 
41 
3,468 
66,548 

15,785 

37,086 
2,046 
11,150 
35 
289 
157 
46,721 
18,742 
9,325 
5,249 
5 
961 
8 
72 
12,320 

6 
33 
125,656 
103,306 
21,465 
153 
61 
16 
60 

595 
81 
1 

1 
9 

2 

4 
64 
262,735 

New  Hampshire  
Vermont  

Rhode  Island  

Connecticut  
New  York 

New  Jersey  
Pennsylvania  
South  Atlantic  Division  .... 
Delaware  
Maryland 

District  of  Columbia  .... 
Virginia  
West  Virginia 

North  Carolina  
South  Carolina  
Georgia  
Florida  
North  Central  Division  
Ohio  

Indiana  
Illinois 

Michigan  

Minnesota  

Iowa  

Missouri  
North  Dakota 

South  Dakota  
Nebraska  
Kansas  
South  Central  Division  
Kentucky  
Tennessee  

Mississippi  

Texas  

Oklahoma  

Western  Division  

Montana  

New  Mexico  

Utah 

Nevada  
Idaho 

Oregon  

United  States  

488 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


Table  XII.— GROWTH  OF   TOBACCO   MANUFACTURING  IN    EACH    STATE. 


a  Cigar 
factories. 

Millit 
cigars 
1894 

>ns  of 
made. 
1886 

a  No.  of 
factories. 

b  Product 
mil'n's  Ibs. 

1894 

1886 

1894 
6 
7 
24 
18 
60 
11 
20 
348 
92 
102 
45 
147 
67 
36 
29 
144 
87 
92 
17 
64 
8 
74 
5 
371 
253 

21 
355 
4 
63 
28 
134 
31 
79 

1886 

8 
5 
1 
1 

12 
31 
15 
4 
1 

41 
11 
8 
8 
3 
74 

12 

99 
211 
40 

37 

1 
42 
2 
197 
12 
7 

1894 

11.9 

26.3 
1.3 
10.5 

17.0 
TA 

24.9 

17.9 
24.7 
19.3 

6.9 
2.6 

363 
3.6 
6.3 

"268^- 

1886 

8.1 

15.2 
2.0 
7.1 

9.7 
34^6 

30.2 

lei 

18.5 
14.0 

3.2 
1.4 
39^3 

5.4 
210.4 

Alabama  

61 
43 
602 
216 
434 
400 
73 
2,256 
794 
596 
308 
295 
177 
875 
699 

IS 

878 
77 
342 
160 
1,077 
10 
6,847 
42 
2,028 
164 
5,661 
13 
67 
127 
241 
138 
955 

33 
22 
383 
100 
311 
194 

1,454 
495 
305 
203 
273 
139 
815 
585 
670 
218 
721 
13 
189 
41 
868 
2 
5,155 
26 
1,691 
29 
4,887 
21 

53 
168 
115 
696 

5.3 
1.6 

66.5 
10.9 
38.7 
147.8 
4.5 
247.8 
63.7 
66.9 
20.4 
42.0 
66.2 
90.9 
106.5 
106.3 
39.3 
65.4 
3.7 
20.5 
16.5 
68.5 

1,044.3 
7.0 
406.4 
6.8 
1,149.9 

4.4 
9.3 

86.8 
63.7 
83.9 

4.1 
2.3 
127.4 
8.7 
34.8 
92.6 
2.0 
181.3 
42.7 
42.3 
17.9 
29.6 
43.6 
97.5 
97.3 
87.4 
30.8 
59.5 

18.2 
3.2 
67.4 

1,085.9 

277^1 
1.2 
847.9 
1.1 
3.5 
4.6 
24.8 
41.7 
60.1 

California  

Connecticut  
Florida  

Illinois  

Indiana  

Kansas  
Kentucky  

Maryland  
Massachusetts  
Michigan  

Minnesota  

Missouri  

Nebraska 

.New  Hampshire..  .  . 

New  Mexico 

New  York  
North  Carolina  
Ohio  
Oregon  
Pennsylvania  
South  Carolina  
Tennessee  

Virginia  
West  Virginia  
Wisconsin  

Total  

28,173 

21,053 

4,163.0 

3,462.0 

3,080 

971 

a  Each  account  with  the  internal  revenue  department  is  here  con- 
sidered as  a  factory.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  may  be  several  ac- 
counts in  the  same  building.  Hence  the  discrepancy  between  these 
figures  and  those  of  the  federal  census,  which  last  represent  different 
establishments. 

b  Product  of  manufactured  tobacco. 


Cigarettes:  Total  production  in  1886  was  1607  millions,  in  1894  was 
3621  millions,  divided  between  the  States  of  principal  production  thus: 
Louisiana,  12  millions  in  '86  against  158  millions  in  '94;  Maryland,  119 
to  36;  New  York,  929  to  1838;  North  Carolina,  262  to  737,  and  Virginia's 
product  of  273  million  cigarettes  in  '86  increased  to  823  millions  in  '94. 

Plug  Tobacco:  Total  product  in  1886  was  131  million  pounds,  which 
for  '94  had  increased  to  160  millions  by  leading  States  as  follows  :  Ken- 
tucky, 13  million  pounds  in  '86  and  22  millions  in  '94;  Missouri  30  to  52; 
New  Jersey,  18  to  12;  New  York,  4  to  3;  North  Carolina,  10  to  17;  Ohio, 
0  to  15;  while  Virginia's  plug  tobacco  output  of  38  million  pounds  in 
'86  dropped  to  31  millions  eight  years  later. 

Fine  Cut:  Production  in  1886  was  17  million  pounds  and  only  14 
millions  in  '94,  as  follows:  Illinois,  1.6  to  2.1;  Michigan,  0  to  4;  New 
Jersey,  5  to  3;  and  New  York  dropped  from  3.3  to  2.3  million  pounds. 


APPENDIX. 


489 


Smoking  Tobaccos :  Total  product  jumped  from  55  million  pounds  in 
'86,  to  over  83  millions  in  '94,  being  from  the  principal  States :  Illi- 
nois, 4.9  to  8.6;  Kentucky,  0  to  3.7;  Louisiana,  0  to  1.3:  Maryland,  6.3  to 
9.3;  Michigan,  5.8  to  8.2;  Missouri,  4.5  to  5.6;  New  Jersey,  4.9  to  5.1;  New 
York,  9.6  to  12.6;  North  Carolina,  4.7  to  7.1;  Ohio  2.6  to  3.9;  Pennsylva- 
nia, stationary  at  3;  Wisconsin,  4.7  to  5.5;  while  Virginia  and  West 
Virginia,  which  manufactured  no  smoking  tobacco  in  '86,  reported 
4.1  and  3.6  million  pounds  respectively  for  1894. 

Snuff:  Product  for  1886  was  6,547,000  pounds  against  11,583,000 
pounds  in  1894.  In  the  latter  year,  the  principal  States  that  producing 
snuff  were:  New  Jersey,  4,920,000  pounds;  Pennsylvania,  3,822,000 
pounds;  Tennessee,  965,000;  Virginia,  726,000;  Maryland,  493,000;  Illi- 
nois, 347,000  pounds.  In  1886,  the  principal  snuff-producing  States 
were :  Delaware,  2,284,000  and  New  Jersey,  2,500,000  pounds. 

PRICES  IN  HOME  AND 'FOREIGN  MARKETS. 

Table  XIII.— CIGAB  LEAF  AT  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

This  table  gives  the  average  wholesale  quotations  in  January  and 
October,  at  New  York  city,  for  the  best  gcvde  of  domestic  tobacco  used 
for  filling  cigars.  Also  the  same  for  best  grades  of  domestic  wrapper 
leaf.  The  growths  of  Connecticut,  New  York  State,  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio  are  separately  stated,  as  their  qualities  are  usually  quite  differ- 
ent. From  1850  to  1857,  Connecticut  wrappers  sold  for  10  to  20  cents  per 
pound  at  New  York  city.  Thence  to  1860  the  price  was  10  to  40  cents. 
Twenty  and  25  cents  was  the  top  price  until  1863,  when  the  boom 
began  that  culminated  a  year  later. 

[Quotations  are  in  cents  per  pound.] 


Cigar  fillers. 


1870 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1878 


Cigar  wrappers. 


.33 

.33        — 


490 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


Table  XIV.— COMPARATIVE  RELATIVE  PRICE8  OF  TOBACCO  LEAF. 

In  this  table,  100  is  the  basis  of  values,  or  the  index  number.  It 
represents  the  average  wholesale  price  of  leaf  tobacco  for  the  year 
1860.  For  the  United  States,  this  average  is  based  on  the  mean  whole- 
sale quotation  for  the  year,  of  all  grades  of  leaf  in  the  New  York  city 
and  Cincinnati  markets.  For  London,  it  is  the  average  of  the  whole- 
sale quotations  on  Virginia  leaf.  For  Hamburg,  it  is  the  average  of 
wholesale  prices  on  both  imported  and  the  German-grown  leaf.  To 
compare  the  fluctuations  in  tobacco  values,  we  add  the  index  num- 
bers for  the  United  States  only,  of  wheat,  cotton,  wool,  and  the  gen- 
eral average  for  all  farm  products.  Average  comparative  prices  for 
the  first  six  mouths  '96  are  given,  as  compiled  by  American  Agriculturist. 


Tobacco. 

Other  Produce. 

United 
States. 

Eng- 
land. 

Ham- 
burg. 

Wheat. 
U.  8. 

Wool. 
U.  S. 

Cotton. 
U.  S. 

General 
Av. 

1860 

100 

100 

100 

100 

100 

100 

100 

1861 

95 

99 

113 

92 

81 

199 

92 

1862 

187 

126 

120 

87 

100 

523 

132 

1863 

178 

215 

94 

101 

157 

782 

177 

1864 

200 

215 

94 

116 

184 

1119 

260 

1865 

126 

79 

141 

171 

453 

195 

1866 

108 

126 

73 

116 

133 

365 

172 

1867 

138 

133 

81 

213 

111 

199 

171 

1868 

167 

133 

85 

193 

93 

247 

173 

1869 

168 

111 

97 

119 

97 

254 

162 

1870 

158 

111 

94 

85 

93 

156 

147 

1871 

188 

104 

97 

118 

110 

183 

130 

1872 

181 

126 

114 

119 

154 

173 

129 

1873 

216 

130 

103 

130 

119 

170 

133 

1874 

180 

122 

103 

122 

115 

143 

138 

1875 

161 

170 

95 

107 

121 

126 

1876 

146 

170 

103 

101 

90 

102 

115 

1877 

149 

141 

93 

117 

91 

103 

111 

1878 

137 

126 

93 

107 

81 

99 

99 

1879 

119 

104 

88 

84 

76 

96 

98 

1880 

138 

119 

94 

112 

109 

IOC 

110 

1881 

134 

107 

91 

93 

98 

109 

121 

1882 

141 

156 

81 

116 

95 

106 

114 

1883 

138 

163 

79 

88 

90 

98 

100 

1884 

153 

141 

86 

84 

81 

94 

105 

1885 

122 

152 

87 

71 

72 

93 

94 

1886 

100 

137 

88 

74 

76 

88 

97 

1887 

123 

133 

80 

74 

79 

95 

1888 

111 

163 

79 

71 

72 

97 

96 

1889 

122 

148 

86 

86 

80 

101 

91 

1890 

130 

148 

91 

71 

78 

96 

97 

1891 

140 

163 

85 

88 

75 

80 

'  97 

1896 

84 

? 

«91 

53 

45 

? 

57 

•Average  for  12  months,  1895,  specially  furnished  for  this  work  by 
the  Hamburg  statistical  bureau.  It  also  reports  wheat  averaging,  for 
1895,  the  equivalent  of  69  cents  per  bushel,  U.  S.  currency,  against  $1.20 
at  Hamburg,  for  1891  ;  the  relative  value  of  wheat  being  82  for  the  year 
1891,  and  only  46  for  the  year  1895. 


APPENDIX. 


491 


Table    XV.— COMPARATIVE    MARKET    PRICES    OF    LEAP  — TOBACCO   IN 
HOME  AND   FOREIGN  MARKETS. 

This  table  shows  the  average  wholesale  quotation  of  the  best 
grades  of  Kentucky  leaf  at  New  York  city  in  January,  and  again  in 
October.  The  same  facts  are  given  for  Virginia  leaf  on  the  London 
market  in  January  and  July.  The  yearly  average  wholesale  price  of 
all  leaf  tobacco  at  Hamburg,  Germany,  is  then  given.  Also  the  aver- 
age value  per  pound  of  the  leaf  tobacco  exported  each  year  from  the 
United  States. 


Ken  tuck  v  leaf  at 
New  York. 

Virginia  leaf  in 
London  . 

All  leaf  at 
Hamburg. 
Av.per  yr. 

Av.  value 
leaf  exp. 
from  U.  S. 

Jan. 

Oct. 

Jan. 

July. 

1840 

17 

11 

1845 

6 

8 

1850 

10 

11 

1851 

13 

10 

20 

20 

12 

1853 

9 

10 

14 

15 

12 

1857 

12 

13 

22 

22 

17 

1860 

14 

13 

17 

16 

16 

1862 

16 

25 

22 

24 

19 

1863 

30 

27 

30 

30 

15 

1864 

30 

38 

30 

30 

15 

1865 

40 

30 



24 

12 

1866 

30 

24 

24 

24 

11 

15.4 

186T 

12 

14 

22 

22 

13 

10.6 

1868 

15 

14 

22 

22 

13 

11.1 

1869 

13 

13 

20 

20 

15 

11.3 

1870 

12 

14 

20 

18 

15 

11.4 

1871 

9 

11 

16 

16 

15 

9.2 

1872 

11 

12 

21 

22 

18 

10.3 

1873 

12 

11 

22 

22 

16 

10.7 

1874 

10 

16 

22 

24 

16 

9.6 

1875 

16 

15 

35 

35 

15 

11.3 

1876 

13 

13 

35 

37 

16 

10.4 

1877 

12 

10 

28 

24 

15 

10.2 

1878 

10 

9 

24 

24 

15 

8.7 

1879 

8 



20 

20 

14 

7.8 

1880 

9 

9 

23 

23 

15 

7.7 

1881 

10 

12 

20 

20 

14 

8.3 

1882 

12 

11 

30 

35 

13 

8.5 

1883 

11 

11 

35 

30 

12 

8.3 

1884 

11 

11 

30 

30 

13 

9.1 

1885 

11 

11 

30 

30 

14 

9.9 

1886 

11 

10 

27 

28 

14 

9.6 

1887 

10 

11 

26 

28 

12 

8.7 

1888 

11 

11 

32 

32 

12 

8.3 

1889 

11 

10 

32 

32 

13 

8.8 

1890 

10 

10 

32 

37 

14 

8.6 

1891 

10 

37 

37 

13 

8.8 

1892 

37 

37 

8.4 

1893 

35 

— 

Table  XVI.— PRICES  AT  INTERIOR    MARKETS. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  is  one  of  the  oldest  tobacco  markets  in  the  inte- 
rior, and  is  a  distributing  point  for  immense  quantities  of  leaf,  grown 
in  the  central  portions  of  the  United  States.  Its  quotations  are  avail- 
able since  1853,  and  are  put  on  record  here  to  show  the  fluctuations  in 
prices  at  interior  markets.  There  are  four  leading  grades  of  the 
varieties  used  for  manufactured  tobacco,  but  the  "  average  "  quality 
and  the  "  fine  "  or  best  grades  only,  are  quoted.  The  average  quota- 


TOBACCO   LEAF. 


tion  for  the  best  quality  of  each  grade  is  given  for  January  and  again 
for  October.  Under  "  lugs,"  is  given  a  similar  quotation  for  common 
to  good  leaf,  used  for  this  purpose.  Quotations  for  the  fillers  grown  in 
that  region  for  plugs  and  for  cigars  are  also  given. 

[Quotations  in  dollars  and  cents  for  100  pounds.] 


MANUFACTURING  TOBACCOS. 

FILL.EK  LEAF. 

Average. 

Fine. 

Lugs. 

Plug. 

Cigar. 

Jan. 

Oct. 

Jan. 

Oct. 

Jan. 

Oct. 

Jan. 

Oct. 

Jan. 

Oct. 

1853 

$4.81 

$6.00 

$7.00 

$9.50 

$4.50 

$5.00 

1857 

10.13 

11.46 

14.75 

17.00 

9.00 

10.00 

1862 

9.25 

14.13 

13.50 

20.00 

8.00 

13.00 

1863 

15.38 

14.00 

24.00 

22.50 

14.00 

10.50 

$13.50 

$9.00 

1864 

16.25 

13.75 

24.00 

22.50 

14.00 

10.50 

11.00 

6.75 

1865 

16.66 

15.33 

32.50 

37.50 

10.25 

6.13 

$13.06 

$17.68 

6.75 

3.50 

1866 

15.13 

13.50 

27.50 

22.50 

9.00 

7.75 

13.43 

11.31 

3.00 

3.00 

1867 

13.41 

10.58 

22.50 

18.50 

8.00 

6.00 

10.93 

8.87 

3.00 

2.50 

1868 

12.50 

13.78 

22.50 

22.50 

7.00 

8.25 

10.93 

11.88 

2.50 

5.50 

1869 

12.70 

10.95 

21.50 

19.00 

8.25 

7.00 

8.93 

9.13 

5.50 

6.00 

1870 

11.20 

10.22 

17.00 

22.50 

8.25 

4.50 

8.93 

9.81 

11.50 

5.00 

1871 

10.04 

14.66 

17.50 

27.50 

7.09 

9.00 

10.00 

12.88 

8.75 

8.75 

1872 

15.00 

13.31 

26.50 

24.00 

9.50 

9.00 

13.18 

12.36 

6.25 

9.00 

1873 

16.31 

16.33 

26.00 

27.00 

11.00 

11.75 

14.56 

14.56 

9.25 

11.00 

1874 

10.75 

20.58 

16.50 

34.00 

7.00 

13.50 

9.50 

16.13 

7.00 

8.50 

1875 

21.  7  j 

19.95 

35.00 

34.50 

15.75 

12.50 

18.18 

16.63 

8.50 

7.50 

1876 

17.14 

13.00 

27.50 

23.00 

10.38 

8.00 

13.81 

13.18 

7.50 

6.50 

1877 

13.06 

13.06 

23.00 

23.00 

8.00 

8.00 

12.28 

12.28 

5.50 

5.50 

1878 

11.20 

12.66 

18.00 

22.50 

7.25 

7.75 

10.90 

12.21 

5.50 

5.50 

1879 

14.62 

12.01 

25.00 

20.00 

8.25 

8.00 

12.09 

11.25 

6.50 

6.00 

1880 

13.91 

13.35 

22.00 

23.50 

10.00 

8.50 

9.96 

9.53 

4.50 

5.50 

1881 

13.81 

16.79 

23.50 

30.00 

9.25 

10.00 

11.15 

13.25 

6.50 

5.00 

1882 

19.20 

15.50 

30.00 

27.00 

14.75 

11.75 

12.93 

10.75 

5.00 

4.50 

1883 

13.93 

15.33 

23.00 

25.50 

12.25 

12.00 

9.71 

10.84 

5.50 

5.00 

1884 

16.00 

11.89 

25.00 

18.00 

12.00 

8.88 

11.70 

9.90 

5.50 

1885 

11.00 

9.20 

18.50 

15.75 

8.12 

6.88 

10.15 

9.00 

6.00 

4.50 

1886 

10.75 

7.25 

19.50 

13.50 

7.12 

5.00 

10.00 

6.53 

5.00 

3.50 

1887 

7.83 

17.91 

15.00 

28.75 

5.00 

11.00 

6.40 

15.18 

4.75 

4.50 

1888 

19.20 

14.83 

26.50 

22.50 

14.00 

11.50 

17.50 

12.50 

4.50 

5.00 

1889 

17.08 

17.45 

24.00 

26.00 

12.25 

12.25 

15.18 

11.87 

5.00 

5.00 

1890 

14.66 

14.67 

24.00 

23.50 

9.25 

9.75 

13.00 

12.62 

5.00 

5.00 

1891 

13.64 

13.83 

23.50 

24.50 

8.75 

8.00 

11.71 

12.87 

6.50 

9.25 

1892* 

7.63 

11.56 

14.70 

20.75 

5.10 

7.30 

11.16 

13.40 

1893* 

11.72 

9.25 

17.06 

14.69 

8.72 

6.00 

13.73 

11.50 

1894* 

9.06 

8.25 

13.00 

14.22 

5.10 

5.50 

10.20 

10.60 

1895* 

7.68 

8.63 

12.94 

14.22 

4.53 

5.45 

10.33 

10.65 

1896* 

8.25 

15.50 

4.15 

10.90 

•Furnished  by  Western  Tobacco  Journal.  It  reports  total  sales  at 
Cincinnati  of  White  Hurley  as  follows:  1892,  109,612  liofislieads  at  an 
average  of  87.38  per  100  pounds  of  leaf;  '93,  79,886  hogslieads  at.  $9.75; 
'94,  104,010  hogsheads  at  $7.81;  '95,  103,198  hogsheads  at  $6.65;  '96,  from 
January  1  to  August  15,  63,935  hogslieads,  at  an  average  of  $5.18. 

Table  XVII.— CONSUMPTION  AND  TAXATION  OF  TOBACCO  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES. 

[Compiled  from  reports  of  U.  S.  Commission  of  Internal  Revenue.] 

This  table  gives  in  column  No.  1  the  millions  of  pounds  of  leaf 
tobacco  manufactured  into  plug,  smoking,  fine  cut,  snuff,  etc.,  each 
year.  Column  No.  2  shows  the  millions  of  cigars  made  each  year  ; 


APPENDIX. 


493 


No.  3,  millions  of  cigarettes  ;  while  column  4  gives  the  total  number  of 
both  cigars  and  cigarettes  made  each  year.  Column  5  shows  the 
pounds  of  leaf  tobacco  used  in  making  cigars  and  cigarettes  during 
the  calender  year  ended  December  31  ;  and  the  other  data  are  for 
fiscal  year  ended  June  30.  Under  "  Internal  Revenue  Taxation,"  is 
first  given  the  average  tax  (in  cents  per  pound)  paid  on  manufactured 
tobacco  in  each  year,  then  the  amount  of  revenue  collected  from  this 
source,  also  the  amount  collected  from  the  internal  revenue  taxes  on 
einars  and  cigarettes.  The  next  column  shows  the  total  internal  rev- 
enue receipts  each  year  from  tobacco,  this  total  including  not  only 
taxes  on  manufacturers  and  on  cigars  and  cigarettes,  but  also  fees  for 
licenses  to  dealers  and  manufacturers,  and  minor  items.  Import 
duties  paid  each  year  on  tobacco  imported  for  consumption  are  next 
shown,  and  the  last  column  of  all  gives  the  aggregate  of  government's 
receipts  from  all  sources  pertaining  to  tobacco.  The  notes  following 
the  table  give  particulars  about  internal  revenue  taxes  on  cigars  and 
cigarettes,  and  also  about  the  duties  on  imported  tobacco. 


Y'RS 


1865 
1866 
1867 


1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 


1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
1890 
1891 
1892 
1893 
1894 
1895 
Total 


Consumption. 


23.8 
64.5 
37.6 
37.4 
47.6 
46. 
64.3 
90.2 
95.1 
95.2 
114.7 
107.' 
119.4 
110.3 
116.1 
108.8 
120.3 
136.2 
147.0 
161.3 
170.3 
174.1 
180.7 
191.5 
206.4 
209.3 
221.5 
238.2 
253.8 


247.1 
259.1 


Nos.  in  millions. 


3,456 
3,359 
3,511 
3,788 
3,845 
3,867 
4,088 
4,475 
4,549 
4,814 
4,067 
4,164 


656 

640 

908 

1,058 

1,311 

1,684 

1,863 

2,152 

2,233 


3.328 


J_ 

199 
492 

713 
347 
484 


993 
1,153 
1,333 
1,528 
1,807 
1,887 
1,968 
1,906 
1,949 
2,070 
2,257 
2,777 
3,250 
3,597 
3,868 
4,364 
3,417 
4,822 
5,372 
5,708 
6,019 
6,321 
7,160 
7,442 
7,991 
7,250 
7,492 
108,536 


in 

Hi 


lii 

<yz  «s 

61.2 
66.4 
73.6 
77.2 
79.4 
76.7 
84.9 
82.9 
83.5 
83.5 
91.7 
94.5 

100.8 
96.9 
89.9 

•90.4 


tl, 322.3 


Internal  rev.  tax. 


',356  33.763 
8,311 '36,219 
9,128  39,235 
9,73540,398 


31,000  10,265  41,2(56 
31,890il4,832  46,722 
28,618 1 13,669  42,286 

00    -AK 

iTav  618T9'349T2  998,479!  I 


t  Total  for  16  years.    *  Partly  estimated. 


494  TOBACCO   LEAF. 


The  United  States  internal  revenue  tax  for  the  two  years  ended  June 
30,  1864,  was  $1.50  per  thousand  on  cigars  valued  at  not  over  $5  per  M, 
increasing  to  $3.50  on  cigars  valued  at  $20,  an  average  of  $2.37  per  M 
on  cigars  of  all  descriptions.  After  June  30,  1864,  the  tax  was  in- 
creased, for  war  purposes,  to  $3  per  M,  on  cheroots  and  cigars  valued 
at  not  over  $5  per  M  ;  valued  at  over  $5  and  not  over  $15  per  M,  $8 ; 
valued  at  $15  to  $30,  $15  per  M  ;  valued  at  $30  to  $45,  §25  per  M.  Cigar- 
ettes valued  at  not  over  $6  per  100  packages  of  25  each,  $1  per  100  pack- 
ages; valued  above  that  sum,  $3;  cigarettes  made  wholly  of  tobacco, 
$3  per  M.  By  the  act  of  March  3,  1865,  cigars,  cheroots  and  cigarettes 
made  wholly  of  tobacco,  or  any  substitute  therefor,  were  taxed  $10 
per  M,  and  cigarettes,  valued  at  not  over  $5  per  100  packages  of  25 
each,  were  taxed  5  cents  per  package,  and  if  valued  above  that,  5  per 
cent.  These  war  taxes  were  reduced  by  the  act  of  July  13, 1866,  and 
March  2,  1867,  and  again  July  20,  1868.  Under  the  latter  act,  cigars  and 
cheroots  of  all  descriptions  were  taxed  $5  per  M:  cigarettes  weighing 
not  over  3  pounds  per  M,  were  taxed  $1.50,  and  heavier  than  that,  $5. 
These  rates  prevailed  until  March  3,  1875,  when  cigars  and  cheroots 
were  taxed  $6  per  M  and  cigarettes  $1.75.  These  rates  were  again  re- 
duced March  3,  1883,  to  $3  per  M  for  cigars  and  cheroots  of  all  descri]  - 
tions  and  50  cents  for  cigarettes  weighing  not  over  3  pounds  per  JN1. 
These  latter  rates  are  still  in  effect. 

The  tariff  on  tobacco  imported  into  the  United  States  on  leaf,  or  man- 
ufactured, was  6  cents  per  pound  and  on  snuff  10  cents  per  pound 
from  1789  to  1794,  when  it  was  advanced  to  10  and  12  cents  respec- 
tively, and  remained  there  until  1846,  except  that  it  was  20  and  24  cents 
from  1812  to  1816.  In  1846,  a  tariff  of  30  per  cent  ad  valorem  was  im- 
posed on  leaf  tobacco,  which  was  made  24  per  cent  in  '57  and  25  per- 
cent in  '61,  but  in  '62  was  raised  to  25  cents  per  pound,  and  in  1866  to 
35  cents  per  pound,  continuing  at  that  rate  until  1874,  when  it  was 
made  30  per  cent  ad  valorem.  From  1866  to  1883,  the  duty  on  snuff  and 
manufactured  tobacco  was  50  cents  per  pound.  The  import  duty  on 
cigars  and  cheroots  was  $2.50  per  thousand  until  1842,  when  the  rate 
was  fixed  at  40  cents  per  pound,  which  was  changed  to  40  per  cent  ad 
valorem  in  1846  and  30  per  cent  in  '57,  but  in  1866-7  was  $3  per  pound 
and  50  per  cent  ad  valorem.  This  was  changed  to  $2.50  per  pound,  and 
25  per  cent  ad  valorem,  in  1868,  and  continued  at  that  figure  until  1883. 

The  United  States  tariff  of  1883  imposed  a  duty  on  cigar  wrappers 
of  75  cents  per  pound,  if  unstemmed,  and  $1,  if  stemmed.  Other  to- 
bacco in  leaf  35  cents  per  pound,  stems  15  cents  per  pound,  snuff  or 
manufactured  tobacco  50  cents,  cigars,  cheroots  and  cigarettes  $2.50  per 
pound  and  25  per  cent  ad  valorem.  These  rates  were  greatly  changed 
by  the  McKinley  act  of  1890,  which  imposed  a  duty  of  $2  per  pound  on 
cigar  wrappers  if  not  stemmed,  and  $2.75  if  stemmed.  Other  leaf  to- 
bacco 35  cents  unstemmed  and  50  cents  stemmed;  snuff,  etc.,  50  cents 
per  pound;  other  manufactured  tobacco  40  cents  per  pound;  cigars, 
cigarettes  and  cheroots  $4.50  per  pound,  and  25  per  cent  ad  valorem. 
Under  the  Wilson  tariff  of  August  28, 1894,  the  rate  on  wrapper  leaf  was 
reduced  to  $1.50  per  pound,  or  $2.25  if  stemmed,  on  filler  leaf  35  cents 
per  pound  and  50  cents  if  stemmed,  other  leaf  40  cjnts,  cigars,  cigar- 
ettes and  cheroots  $4  per  pound  and  25  per  cent  ad  valorem,  snuff  50 
cents,  all  other  manufactured  tobacco  40  cents  per  pound.  The  high 
duty  on  wrapper  leaf,  in  the  act  of  1883,  was  evaded  by  the  loose  con- 
struction of  the  law;  the  act  of '92  was  ironclad  in  this  respect,  and 
the  act  of  1894  was  very  specific,  and  stood  the  test  of  the  highest 
courts.  The  Dingley  tariff  of  1897  increases  the  duty  on  wrappers, 
and  possibly  on  fillers,  but  makes  no  other  changes  in  rates. 

Besides  these  duties,  imported  tobacco  has  to  pay  the  same  inter- 
nal revenue  taxes  that  are  imposed  upon  domestic  tobaccos  of  like 
grade. 


Books  on  Tobacco  Culture. 


The  student  is  referred  to  the  wonderfully  complete  Bibliotheca 
fficotiana,  compiled  by  William  F.  R.  Bragge,  published  at  Birming- 
ham. England,  in  1880. 

United  States  reports  from  the  internal  revenue  and  agricultural 
departments  contain  much  on  this  subject.  The  Department  of 
State's  consular  reports,  especially  since  1880,  give  many  reports  on 
tobacco  in  other  lands.  Several  of  the  State  agricultural  experiment 
stations  have  printed  bulletins  on  the  subject. 

References  to  works  on  tobacco,  [dates  of  whose  publication  are 
lacking :  Kissling,  Tabakkunde ;  Bere,  Le  Tabak ;  Nessler,  Der  Tabak, 
seine  Bestandtheile  und  seine  Behandlung;  Hofmann,  Die  Culturdes 
Tabakes  in  Oesterreich;  Nessler,  Landwirthschaftliche  Versuchsta- 
tionen  ;  Krafft,  Lehrbuch  der  Landwirthschaft;  Blomeyer,  Die  Culture 
der  landwirthschaftlichen  Nutzpflanzen. 

A  CHRONOLOGICAL  LIST  OF  WORKS  ON  TOBACCO. 

Neavder,  J.  Tabacologia.  Lugduni-Batavorum,  1622 

Stella,  B.  II  Tabacco.  Rome,  1669 

Winther,  P.  Tobaks-plantning.  Kjoebenhavn,  1773 

Carver,  J.  Culture  of  the  Tobacco-plant.  London,  1779 

Villeneuve.  Culture,  Fabrication  et  Vente  du  Tabac.  Paris,  1791 

Tathain,  W.  Culture  and  Commerce  of  Tobacco.  London,  1800 

Becker,  Jens  Fr.  Kort  anviisning,  til  tabaks-plantning.  Viborg,  1809 

Normanii,  J.  E.  Tobaksplantens,  dyrkningi  Norge.  Christiania,  1811 

Canja,  A.  J.  Tobacco.  Habana,  1812 

Truchet,  M.  de.  Culture  du  Tababac  en  France.  Paris,  1816 
Watterson,  Geo.  A  memoir  on  the  history,  culture,  uses,  etc.,  of 

the  tobacco  plant.  Washington,  1817 

Flor,  M.  R.  Om  Tobakavl.  Christiania,  1817 
Hermbstadt.  Griindliche  Anweisung  zur  Cultur  der  Tabakpflan- 

zen.  Berlin,  1822 
Brodigan,  T.  Art  of  Growing  and  Curing  Tobacco  in  the  British 

Isles.  London,  1830 

Jennings,  J.  Practical  Treatise  on  Tobacco.  London,  1830 

Meller,  H.  J.  Nicotiana.  London,  1832 
France.  Rapport  sur  la  fabrication  et  la  rente,  exclusives  du 

tabac.  Paris,  1833 

Antz,  K.  C.  Tabachi  historia.  Berolinl,  1836 

Demersay,  L.  A.  Du  Tabac  du  Paraguay.  Paris,  1851 
Babo,  August.,  Baron  Von  and  F.  Hoffacker.  Der  Tobak  und  sein 

An  ban.  1852 

Demoor,  V.  P.  G.  Culture  du  Tabac.  Luxembourg,  1853 

Tiedemann,  F.  Geschichte  des  Tabaks.  Frankfurt,  1854 

Steinmetz,  A.  Tobacco.  London,  1867 

Fermond,  C.  Monographic  du  Tabac.  Paris,  1857 

Fairholt,  Bred  W.  Tobacco.  London,  1869 

Cooke,  M.  C.  The  Seven  Sisters  of  Sleep.  London,  -  1860 

L'Ange,  H.  Raibaud.  Du  Tabac  en  Provence.  Paris,  1860 
495 


496  TOBACCO   LEAF. 


Cooke,  John  H.    Tobacco.    Richmond,  1860 

Fevre,  J.L.  P.    Le  Tabac.    Paris,  1863 

Guys,  C.  E.    Culture  of  Latakia  Tobacco.    Technologist.    London,  1863 
Maling.    Tobacco  Trade  and  Cultivation  of  the  district  of  Cavalla, 

Technologist.    London,  1863 

Sax  ton,  Chas.  W.    Handbook  of  Tobacco  Culture.    New  York,  1863 
Coin,  R.  fie.    History  and  Cultivation  of  Cotton  and  Tobacco. 

London,  1864 

Holzschuher.    Der  Tabakbau.    Gotha,  1864 

Henreick,  B.  A.    Du  Tabac.    Paris,  1866 

Courbeyre,  A.  Imbert.    Lecons  snr  le  Tabac.    Clermont-Ferrand,  1866 
Johnson,  S.  W.    Tobacco.— Report  of  Chemist  to  the  Connecticut 

State  Board  of  Agriculture.  1873 

Billings,  E.  R.    Tobacco.    Hartford,  Ct.,  1875 

Bee,  A.  de.    Culture  du  Tabac  en  France.    Aix,  1875 

Allart,  F.  A.    Culture  du  Tabac.    Abbeville,  1876 
Creighton,  B.  T.     Culture  of  tobacco  in   Ohio.     Pharmaceutical 

Journal.    London,  1876 

De&obert,  D.    Culture  du  Tabac.    Lille,  1876 

HofackerundBabo.    Der  Tabakbau.    Berlin,  1876 

Nouvel,  A.    Le  Tabac.    Brive,  1876 

Nouvel,  A.    Notes  sur  la  Culture  des  Tabacs.    Paris,  1876 

Dunning,  John.    Tobacco.    London,  1876 

Burton,  R.  E.    Cultivation  of  Tobacco.    Sugar  Cane.    Manchester,  1877 

Gilmore,  E.  H.    History  of  Tobacco.    Washington,  1878 
Cantoni,  G.     L'Industria  del  Tobacco.     Annali  di  Agricoltura. 

Rome,  1879 
Schiffmayer,.  K.  Tobacco  and  its  Culture.  Report  of  Agricultu- 
ral Department,  Madras  Presidency.  Madras,  1879 
Alfonso,  F.  Tabacchi  della  Sicilia.  Palermo,  1880 
Anderegg,  F.  Tabakbau  in  der  Scliweiz.  Chur,  1880 
Comes,  O.  Tobacco  in  Italia.  L'a^ricolt.  meridionale.  Portici,  1881 
Cameron,  J.  D.  A  sketch  of  the  Tobacco  Interests  in  North  Car- 
olina. Oxford,  1881 
Van  Gorkom,  K.  W.  De  Oost-Indisclie  Cultures.  Amsterdam,  1881 
Zimmermann,  J.  H.  Tabaksbaubuchlein.  Aarau,  1881 
Killebrew,  J.  B.  Report  on  the  Culture  and  Curing  of  Tobacco, 

U.  S.  Census.    Washington,  1883 
Clark,  J.    Composition  of  Tobacco.    Journal  Soc.  Chem.  Industry. 

Manchester,  1884 

Meyer,  F.  H.    Havana  cigars.    Philadelphia,  1885 

Taylor,  Philip  M.    Tobacco.    London,  1886 

Lock,  Chas.  G.  W.    Tobacco.    London,  1886 

Beale,  Edw.J.    English  Tobacco  Culture.    London,  1887 

MacDonald,  A.    Le  Tabac  dans  les  Etats-Unis.    Paris,  1889 

Popovici,  M.    Tutunul.    Bucharest,  1896 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Assorting  lieavy  shipping  450 
Balloon  frame  barn  198 
Barn  for  White  Hurley  180 

Horizontal  ventilators  217 
Inspecting  and  sampling  276 
Inspector   drawing  samples 
heavy  leaf  268 

Basement  Snow  barn  188 

Interior  Snow  barn  190 

Box  shop  and  printing  office  ..  470 

Kentucky  barns  170,  171 
Killebrew  J  B                                  ii 

Bush  for  burning  109 
Garotte  of  Perique  tobacco  ....  376 
Carr    S  P                                      .viii 

Leaf  attacked  by  worm  253 
Leaf    injured    by    red-legged 

Carrying  tobacco  to  market..  ..  319 
Cigar  leaf  barn  186 

Leaf  room  in  plug  factory  454 
Life  size  worm  250 

Clark'  M.H  vii 
Connecticut  broadleaf  .  .  .  .19,  23,  400 

Making  snuff  12 
Making  spun  roll  tobacco  11 

Curing  barn  for  yellow  tobacco  182 

Mel  hod  of  fix  ing  cloth  132 

leaf  173 

Development  broom  rape  256 
Diffenderfer  F   R                             ix 

Moodie,  F.  B  viii 

Movable  frame  for  plant  bed  .  120 

Myrick  Herbert                                 ii 

End  of  frame  178 
Factory  for  manufacturing  ....  452 

North  Carolina  warehouse  264 
Office  in  factory  480 

Field  heavy  leaf  ready  to  hang  300 
Field  ready  for  transplanting.   162 
Five-tier,  five-room  barn  185 

Packing  room  in  factory  .  ..470,  476 
Packing  the  hands  311 
Patent    ventilated    Wisconsin 
barn  194 

Flues  in  yellow  tobacco  barn..  185 
Fort  Walter  A   xii 

Pennsylvania  barn  192 
Pennsylvania  leaf  in  barn...  .  426 

Frye  H  S             xii 

Pennsylvania  seed  bed  121 

Greenville  warehouse  260 
Ground  plan  framed  barn  175 
Growing  Cuban  tobacco  442 
Hanger  for  leaves  193,  360 
Hanging  un  wilted  tobacco  420 

Plant   bed    frame    with    cloth 
cover  119 
Pole  with  hands  of  leaves  on 
either  side  365 
Poquonock  experimental  field  393 

Plug  factory  462 

Harvesting  yellow  367 
Hauling  White  Hurley  to  barn.  341 
Havana  seedleaf          28  3°  378   416 

Press  room  in  plug  factory  460 
Pryor,  Silky  64,68 

Heavy  shipping  56,60,292 
Heavy    shipping    tobacco    on 
scaffold                                            303 

Removing  cloth  cover  from  bed  148 
Sale  of  shipping  tobacco  272 
Sanderson   W.  W             .      .       xiv 

Sectional  plan  Wisconsin  barn  196 

33 

498 


LIST  OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Selling  hogshead  tobacco  at 

Tobacco  smoked  through  tube.      4 

Setting  plants  by  hand  157 
Setting  plants  in  Tennessee.  ...  154 
Side  elevation  German  barn.  ..  200 
Side  view  German  frame  199 

Tobacco  worm  of  the  South  ...  244 
Topping  heavy  shipping  leaf  ..  294 
Transplanting  machine  160 
Transplanting  tobacco  in  olden 
times  14 

Spearing  tobacco  onto  lath  ....  423 

Traveling  cutworm  223 
Tree  cricket                                       227 

Stoves   and    flues    for   curing 
seedleaf  214 
Street  scene  in  Louisville  mar- 

Typical negro  helper  324 
Vertical    section    Wisconsin 
barn  195 

ket  284 

Vuelta  Abajo  446 

Stripping  casks  for  inspection 

Watering  set  plants  165 
Weighing  hogsheads                      280 

Sucker,  heavy  shipping  296 
Sumatran  seedleaf  36,  434 

Well  braced  frame  177 
White  Burlev.  .  .40,  44,  48,  52,  346,  349 
White  Barley  hung  in  barn         349 

Tappan,  Wallace  x 
Tobacco  drinker  7 
Tobacco  field  in  old  Virginia  .  .  328 
Tobacco  in  storage  282 
Tobacco  miner  237 
Tobacco  sale  at  Clarksville  .  .  .  274 

White  Hurley  hung  in  field  ....  334 
White  Burley  on  scaffold  338 
Wimberlv,  Geo.  L  x 
Wooden  frame  for  plant  bed...  117 
Wrapper  room  in  plug  factory.  456 

INDEX. 


Analyses 

Chemical,  of  plants 485 

Cottonliull  ash 139 

Cottonseed  meal 125 

Manures  and  fertilizers  em- 
ployed    112 

Seed 485 

Soils 336 

Yellow  tobacco  soils 359 

Anderson,  T.  C 213 

Andross xiii,  401 

Area  devoted  to  tobacco 

Heavy  shipping 291 

In  United  States 17 

Perique 76 

White  Burley 333 

Yellow 12 

Assorting 

Cigar  leaf 430 

Heavy  leaf 318,  450 

White  Burley 347 

Yellow 367 

Austin,  H 206 

Bacteria  and  tobacco 

Curing  and  manufacture. . .  .91-104 

In  sweating  tobacco 103 

Molds 91 

Office  in  curing 95 

Office  in  fermentation 99 

Reproduction  of 92 

Special  cultures 102 

Yeast  ferments 91 

Barns 

Arrangement  flues 194 

Balloon  frame 207 

Best  localities  for  building. . .  188 

Capacity  square 193 

Cigar  leaf 186, 187,  201 

darks ville    district    heavy 

leaf 173-175 

Florida 206 

Flues  for  curing  yellow 185 

Frame 176-178 

Framed  in  South 186 

German 199,200,203 

Havana  leaf 201 

Heavy  leaf 179-185 

Improvement  In 179 

Kentucky 170, 171 

Log 172,  183,  193 

Manufacturing  tobacco 179 

Most  approved 193 

Mud  walls  of 195 

Northern  cigar  leaf 206 

Ohio 205 

Pennsylvania 205 

Size 179 

[499] 


Snow 188-190,  196 

Square 193 

Ventilation  in 204 

White  Burley 180, 189 

Wisconsin 206 

Yellow 182-184,  191,  196 

Behrens,  Dr.  J 95,  98, 101 

Books  on  tobacco  culture. .  .496,  497 

Bordeaux  mixture 245 

Broun,  Le  Roy Ix 

Browder,  Thos.  E..     xii 

Burn  of  t  obacco 

Conditions  for  good 84 

Effect  of  chlorine 83 

Effect  of  mineral  salts 84 

Important  in  cigars 396 

Injured    by    coarse    nitroge- 
nous matter 110 

Poquonock  experiment 83,  396 

Results  by  Nessler 82 

Schloesing 83 

Cameron  and  Cameron x 

Carpenter,  F.  G x,  486 

Carr,  Julian  S xil 

Carr.S.  P vili,  x,  277 

Chapman,  Mr 207 

Cigarettes 

Method  of  manufacture 465 

Number  made  per  day 466 

Production  in  United  States.  465 

Tobacco  for 465 

Cigar  leaf 

Ability  of  United   States  to 

produce  its  own 381 

Amount  paid  for  imported. ..  381 

Assorting 72,  430 

Binders 73 

Buying  leaf 72 

Casing  or  boxing 431 

Colors 73 

Cost  of  producing 385 

Cultivation  (see  Chap,  on  Cul- 
ture)  

Culture  at  South  and  West. ..  385 

Distribution  of  crop 389 

Fillers 73 

General  considerations 379 

Gum  in  leaf 75 

Hanging 424 

Harvesting 421 

Hawaiian  Islands 381 

Importance  of   attention    to 

details 389 

Mexican 381 

Pennsylvania  experience  —  408 

Preparation  of  soil 409 

Prices  for 387 


500 


INDEX. 


Quality  385,387,  395 
Cigar  leaf  at  the  West  and  South 
California  435 

Topped  plant..  .  , 

19 
xii 

Connor,  H.  G  

Colorado  435 
Fermentation  house  in  Fla...  443 
Fertilizers  used  in  Florida...  444 
Florida  soil  446 
Florida  435 
Georgia  435 
Harvesting  in  Florida                448 

82  89 

Effect  of  

Rd 

Magnesia  397 
Nicotine  79,  291,295 
Nitrogen                                     «Q  mi 

Starcli  
Sugar  
Woody  fiber  
Consumption  

81 
81 
81 

16 

Nebraska  433 
Planting  in  Florida  444 
Quantity  fertilizer  applied  ..  392 
Ripening  418 

France  
Increase  

16 
16,  26 
16 

Soils  405 

Special  fertilization  391 
Status  of  industry  379 

United  States  
Commercial  distinctions. 

...  16,  492 
46 

Stripping  425 
Suckering                                       418 

Cigar  leaf  tobacco  
Cross  fertilization  

..404,432 
31 

7 

Texas  435 
Varieties                                    71  409 

Washington  435 
Wisconsin  433 

Mexico  
Origin  and  spread  
Yellow  tobacco  
Culture  cigar  leaf  
Cultivation  .     . 

27 
3 
10 

405    412 

Casing  468 

415 

Form  cigars  472 
Handmade  cigars  471 

Preparation  of  soil  
Priming  

409 
417 

407 

Packing  473 
Preparing  for  work  471 
Regulations  467 
Stripping  469 
Waste  from  474 

Soils  

404 
417 
409 

Topping  
Varieties 

Curing  
Artificial  

'..'.'.'.'  226 
430 

Clark,  M.  H  vli,  xi 

Casing  or  boxing  
Escape  of  water  in  

431 
226 
424 

African  shippers  49,  69 
Chewing  47,  50 
Cigars  49,  71 

Harvesting  
Heavy  shipping  

421 
-.216,217 
227 

Cigar  and  smoking  71 
Continental  shippers  49,  58 
English  shippers  49,  54 
Fine  cut  and  plug  fillers  47 
For  exportation  49 
Mexico  (see  America  .and  West 
Indies  shippers)  47,  70 

In  leaf  vs.  stalk  
Leaf  alone  vs.  on  stalk. 
Loss  of  weight  in  
Object  in  
Pennsylvania  results.  .  . 

215 
231 
224 
218 
226 

Ripening  
Seedleaf 

418 
221 

Nondescript  71 

425 

Suckering  
Sweating  
Temperature  20 
Time  required  
White  Burley  
Wisconsin  experiments 
Yellow.  

418 

..215,431 
9,  215,  219 
..211,224 
219 
226 
209 

Smoking  49 

Stems  71 

Stogy  wrappers  77 

Yellow  69 
Climatic  effect        .                      29  46 

Competition  .' 
Foreign  leaf  21 
Composition  
At  various  stages  of  growth  84,  485 
Average  cigar  leaf  486 

Best  weather  for  
In  hot  sun  
Cutworms  (see  Pests)  

313 
313 

410 

Davidso'n  ix, 
Davis.  R.B  , 

58,  90,  485 
211 

Description  of....                   ..    35 

INDEX. 


501 


Compared  with  other  indus- 

Deli  Maatschappy's  enterprise  383 
Dibrell,  Wm.  M  x 
Diffenderfer,  F.  R  ix,  xiii 

Applying  potash  salts  138 
Availability  of  nitrogen  121 
Availability  of  different  ni- 
trogenous manures  122 
Barn  manure  114 

A  new  disease  241 
Black  flre                       .                238 

Bone  black  112 
Castor  bean  pomace  113  122  127,394 

Frencliing                                       240 

Hollow  stalk    241 

Commercial  147,  394,  407 

!!'_',  139,  395,  397 

Of  growing  plants  238 
Pole  burn  96,  208,  217,  230,  233 
Spotted  leaf  240 
Stem  rot  98,  235 
Walloon  or  Water  loon  241 
White  veins      98,  208,  235 

Cottonseed  meal  113,  122,  123 
Demands  of  tobacco  89 
Dissolved  bone  black  112 
Double  manure  salt  112 
Dried  blood  112,  122,  130 
Effect  on  soil  86,  118 

Distance  between  plants  
Connecticut  broadleaf  411 
Havana  seed       411 

Fish  113,  122,  131 
Formulas  145,  146 
Gluten  meal  127 

Dowell,  Chas  xi 
Collected  in  1590  by  England       6 

Hen  manure,  fresh  113 
Horn  ami  hoof  122 

Effect  of  McKinley  duty            383 

Higher  duties  to  come  381 

Kainit  112 
Krugit                                              111 

Leather                                            122 

Of  1883                       ....  380 

Lime             .       .                      112   142 

DuBon,  John  E  xiii 

113,  122,  126,  395 

Manufactured  .           147 

Manure                                          114 

Manuring  heavy  leaf  297 

Mechanical  condition                  111 

First  5 
For  four  years  before  Revo- 

Nitrate  of  potash  112 
Nitrate  of  soda  112,  122,  135 
Nitrogen                                   r>0  394 

France  58 
From  provinces  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia                            6  7 

Nitrogen  salts  133 
Peruvian  guano  112 

bacco  88,  90 

Italy  61 
Netherlands  67 

Plaster  112 
Potash  necessary  136 

Portugal  66 

Potash  salts  137,  140,  408 

Spain    62 

Principles  of  108 
Seed  bed                                      159 

United  Kingdom  54 

Export  tobacco  
African  shippers  49,  69 
Continental  .shippers  49,  58 
English  shippers  49,54 
Mexico,  South  America  and 
West  Indies                            49  70 

Soft  Florida  phosphate  112 
South  Carolina  floats  112 
South    Carolina   rock    phos- 
phate    113 
Special    for   cigar    leaf   (see 
Chap    XVIII) 

Regie  types  58 
Stems       .                                  .        71 

Sulphate  of  ammonia  112,  134 

Trade  282 

Sulphate  of  magnesia    112 

Family  27 
Fertilizers  

Sulphate  of  potash  112 
Supplying  84 

Actual  requirements  116 
Ammonia  123 

Temperature  and  rainfall  —  106 
Tobacco  leaf  113 

Amount  to  apply  120 

Using  commercial,  147,  149,  397,  401 

502 


INDEX. 


"What  not  to  use  109 

Topping  294   307 

"White  Hurley         .                      344 

Wood  ashes  112,  140,  390 

barn  317 

Financial  interests'represented   20 
Foot  Walter  A                .                xii 

Worming  310 
History                                                   4 

Frear,  Prof.  Win. 

Florida  9 

ix,  91,  208,  226,  232,  486 
Frve  H  S           .                     xii  xiii 

InNewEngland  8 

Fulton,  A.  W  xiii 

Miami  valley  9 

Garman,  Prof.  H  ix 

North  Carolina  10 

Goessman,  Prof.  C.  A  x,  486 

Goff  E   S  x  224,226,230  233 

Virginia   4  10 

White  Burley                                 12 

Affected  by  distance  in  plant- 

Wisconsin        9 

ing          301 

Belgian  cutter                               67 

Chewing  tobacco  50,  53 
Cigar  leaf        .  .             .                 75 

Hogsheads  

Size                                           326  348 

Weight  7 

Heavy  shipping            295  310  312 

Perique  contains  371 

Increase  in  22 

Shag                                                   67 

Crickets                                           247 

Shippers  for  Mexico  70 

Flea  beetle  243 

Cigar  leaf  424 

Snow  fleas  243 

See  Pests  

Irrigation                                    106  107 

Number  of  plants  on  pole  —  424 
With  lath  424 
With  twine  424 
Harthill  Alex                        xii  xiii 

Florida  tobacco  447 
Jenkins,  Dr.  E.  H  .  .  .  .ix,  392,  443,  486 
Johnson,  Dr.  S.  W.  .x,  88,  90,  161,  486 
Kendrick  J  C                                 xi 

Kerr  356 

Cuban                                               382 

Cultivating  414 

Killebrew,  A.  B  xi 

Culture    387 

Killebrew,  J.  P  ...                       xi 

Lee   J  G                                             ii 

Lowell,  O.  K  482 

Plant  in  flower  32 

Manufacture  

Cigar  18,  467 

Assorting  and  prizing  320,  321 

Cigarettes  18,464,488 

Cultivating  303 

Culture                       .             298  313 

Fine  cut                       .       .             488 

Curing  290 

Money  invested  20 

Cutting  and  housing  310 
Distance  between  plants  301 
Districts                                          291 

Pipe-smoking  tobacco  462 
Plug  tobacco  453,488 
Smoking                                         489 

Favorite  varieties  43 
Field  ready  to  be  hung  300 
Hanging                                          314 

Snuff  459 
Snuff,  Ings  and  smokers....  66,  489 

Kentucky  field  of  292 

Varieties  for  cigars  49 

Analyses                                  112  113 

Name  :  .  290 
Number  of  leaves  left  308 
Ordering  323 

Birn  114 
Content  of  average  ton  116 
Definition  114 

Preparation  of  new  ground  for  302 
Preparation  of  soil  for  295 
Seed  plant       .                              60 

Effect  on  soil  118 
Feed  affects  quality  115 

Soil  for  291 

Promotes  quick  fermentation  118 

INDEX. 


503 


Dried*  fish        "                      122*  131 

Austria  62 
Belgium  67 
Clarksville                                       8 

Gluten  meal  127 
Linseed  or  flaxseed  meal  126 

Nitrogen  salts  135,  136 

France  58 

Other  substances  133 

Germany  57,  65 
Great  Britain                                   54 

Pace,  Capt.  E.  M  xii,  214 
Packing                                              327 

Italy                                                   61 

Louisville  8 
Netherlands                               66  67 

Area  370 

Russia  65 
Spain  .        62 

Cultivation  of  372 

Switzerland  66 
United  Kingdom  54 
Marketing  

Harvesting  273 
Making  of  seed  bed  371 

Assorted  for  275 

Quantity  370 

Cigar  leaf  263 

Cincinnati  market  266 
Competition  in  264 

Broom  rape  256,  258 
Bud  worm  225,  247 

Drawing  samples  271 
Export  trade  282 
Loose                                                267 

Crickets  247 
Cutworms  223,245 
Early  frost                                    260 

Magnitude  heavy  leaf  trade.  286 

Flea  beetle  243 

Prized  or  inspected  leaf  269 

Hail  259 

Shipping  tobacco  272 

Horn  worms  239 
Miner                                        237  249 

Storage  and  auction  fees  273 
Strips  286 

Moths  of  cutworms  223 
Red-legged  grasshopper..  229,  235 

Warehouse  system  265 
Yellow  districts                            277 

Rust  or  fire  blight  238 

McKeage,  B.  F  462 

Sucking  bugs  248 

Mason,  Thos  xi,  xiii 
Moore,  Gideon  E                       374  486 

Tree  cricket  227 
Wind                                                261 

Moodie,  Col.  F.  B  viii,  xiv,  440 

Wireworms  247 

Morse,  W.  C  xiii 
Miiller-Thurgau..                               95 

Worm  242,244,250,  251 
Plant 

Myrick,  Lock  wood  xiii 

Composition  Va.  leaf   485 

Nature     27 

Negro  labor  327 

Flowers  of  27 

Advantages  of  329 

Plant  beds    .  115,  117,  119-121,  132,  148 

Characteristics  329 

Poquonock  results     

Difference  between  negro  and 
white  labor  331 
Employed  by  warehousemen 
as  well  as  planters  329 
Nessler  x,  83,  99 
Nicotine    .     . 

Fertilizer  105,  120,  391,  394 
Field  393 
Quality  of  crops  396 
Powell,  E.P  262 
Price  

As  active  principle  79,  81 

Cigar  leaf  at  N.  Y  .city  489 

Changes  in  amount  81 

Comparative  490 

Formation  and  accumulation    80 
Percentage  of  53,  79,  80 
Nitrogenous  fertilizers  
Ammonia  123 
Amount  to  apply  120 
Analyses                   .               112  113 

In  1754  in  Virginia  7 
Increase  16 
In  home  and  foreign  markets  489 
Yellow  wrappers  368 
Propagating  from  slips  410 

Availability  121,  122 
Best  time  to  apply  119 

Chief  among  diseases  233 

Cottonseed  ineal  123,  125 

In  cigar  leaf....                    ...  419 

504 


INDEX. 


Occasioned    by    changes    In 

Soil  vs.  manures  and  fertili- 

Remedy  for  234 
Unknown  in  Florida  448 
Ventilators  217,  227 

Tobacco  does  not  exhaust  —    68 
What  tobacco  takes  from.  .  .  .    88 
White  Burley  335,  339 

Production  
Increase  in  United  States  17   486. 

Yellow  355,358 

Psychrometer  211,  228 
Quality 

Advance  in  value  16 

Influenced  by  soil    and  cli- 
mate      29 
Ragland,  R.  L  209,  214 

tries  18 
Demand  increasing  16 
Development  in  manufactur- 
ing..      is 

English  in  1676  6 
English  in  1731                                  6 

Increase  in  consumption  16 

Government  increase  18,  20 

Per  capita  consumption,  in- 

Internal  tax  „•    18 

Present  20,  22 

Successful  producer  of  21 
Ridger                                              410 

Stemmeries  and  strips  282 

Sanderson,  W.  W  xiii,  xiv,  402 

Schloesing,  Th  x,  83,  99 
Schultz  Jos   K                                 412 

Stripping  

Science  and  tobacco  79,81,90 
Scovell,  M.A  ix 
Seed 

Method  of  428 
When  done  425 
Stubbs   Wm  C                                   ix 

Amount  sown  in  Connecticut  153 
Analyses  sown  in  South..  153,  485 

Sturgis,  Dr.  Wm.  C  .97,  98,  233 
Suchsland,  Emil  102 

Price  of                                         164 

Raising  best  163 
Selection  of                                    166 

Amount    required    to    wrap 

Selecting  plants  164 

Sprouting  153,  155 

Countries  experimenting  with  381 

Effect  of  McKinley  duty  383 

Yield  per  acre  of  164 
Seed  bed 

Growing  in  Florida  434 

Best  time  for  burning  159 

Plant  in  flower  36 
Profits  of                                         381 

Covering  for  beds  156 
Florida                                            447 

Topped  plant  36 

Methods  in  different  sections  158 

Nature  of  process  102 
Ordinary  leaf                                100 

Stogy                                                  77 

Setting  plants  in  Tenii.  soil..  154 
Sims  John                   .               xi    363 

Yellow  215 

Slate,  W.  C  164 

Tables  

Smith,  J.  B  364 
Snuff 

American  crop  487 
Analyses  of  fertilizers        11">  113 

Kinds  459 

Maccaboy  461 

.                    .490,491 

Product  for  '96                               489 

Composition  Va  leaf                  485 

Scotch        459,'  461 

Sweet                                               461 

in  United  States.                  ..  492 

Soil  
Cigar  leaf                                      404 

Fertilizers  usedatPoquonock  394 

Color  of  soil  affects  color  of 
leaf                                           294 

each  State  488 
Imports  of  leaf                      •      380 

Effect  of  manure  on  118 
Effect  on  leaf                           29  46 

Number  cigar  planters  and 

Florida  444,  446 
Heavv  shinuiner  291.  i".U.  286 

Plant  food  removed  by  aver- 
aee  vield  t>er  acre...  .          ••    90 

INDEX. 


505 


acre     tobacco    and    other 
crops  90 
Pounds  plant  food  removed 
from  soil  88 
Prices  and  values  cigar  leaf  .  390 
Prices  cigar  leaf  N.  Y.  city.  .  .  489 
Prices  interior  markets  491 
Quality  Poquonock  crops  —  396 
Sumatraii   tobacco,  quantity 

Beat-All       34 

Belknap                                          34 

Bui  If  ace                     34 

Bullion                                              42 

Bullock  35 
Burley,  White  35,  40,  44,  48,  52 
Chewing  43 
Clardy  35 
Climax                                            42 

Yield  per  acre  and  total  crop 
cigar  leaf  390 

Connecticut  seedleaf  17,  23,  35 
Cuba                                  35 

Tariff  ..'  '. 
Of  1883                                                 494 

Duck  Island  35 
Favorite  in  the  South  43 

Of  1890  9 

In  different  years  494 

Florida  37 
Frederick                                         37 

Direct  21 
English  15,  58 
Internal  revenue  18,  494 

Gold  tinder  42 

United  States  492 
Tazzinari  experiments  24 
Tliomason,  Jas.  I  xii 
Thompson,  W.  C  xii 
Tobacco  as  a  remedy  
Cholera  morbus  480 

Gourd  leaf  37 
Governor  Jones  37 
Havana  seed  28,  32,  37,  71 

Heavy  stemming  45 
Hester  37 

Decline  475 
Effect  477 
For  sprains,  bruises,  etc  475 
Insect  481 
Kind  of  tobacco                           477 

Hickory  leaf  .         37 

Johnson  green  38 

Kitefoot                                      38  78 

Little  Dutch  38,  78 
Locks                                              38,  74 

Poultice  475,  477 
Skin  diseases                         475  479 

Sore  eyes  475 

Lancaster  broadleaf  38 

Field  ready  for  machine  162 
Hand  170 

Mahogany  wrappers  45 
Mann                       38 

Machine-set  plants  173 
Preparat  ion  for  169 

Nicotiana  pessica  29 

Time  of                                       176  178 

Watering  plants  after  172 

Orinoco,  big  38 

Pennsylvania  seedleaf  39 
Perique.                              .        39  76 

Clarksville     67 

French  regie  58 

Pryor,  blue  39 
Pryor  silky                          39  64  68 

German  saucer        63 
German  spinner  63 
Scotch  elder  58 

Pryor,  yellow  39 

Pryor,  white  39 
Ragland's  Conqueror  42 
Ragland's  Improved  Orinoco,    42 
Red  Burley  12 

Snuff  lugs  and  smokers  66 

Uses 

As  disinfectant  24 
First  3 
Is  its  use  injurious?  14.22,  24 
As  a  remedy  (see  chapter  011 
Tobacco  as  a  Remedy)  
Value  
Advance  in  16 
Varieties  
Adcock       .                                      34 

Sleek  stem  39 

Smoking                                           43 

Spanish  seed  39 

Thickest  41 
Twist  bud                                         41 

Vallandigham  41 
Wand  41 

Baden  34 

Baltimore  Cuba  34 

506 


INDEX. 


Yellow  43,  6£ 
Yellow  111:1111  mot  ii  4: 
Zimmer's  Spanish  

,  74 

,  5<i 
42 

7 

2(i() 
264 

Touped  plant  40,  48,  52 
Topping  345 
Two  varieties  341 

Ventilation  (see  Barns)  
Warehouses  
First  established  

Where  grown  
Whitney   Mr 

....  333 

405 

Williamson,  Bright  
Wimberly,  Geo.  L,  x, 

....  xii 

xv,  210 

u:i- 
.  .  .  .     45 
....  388 
,  57,  459 
....   368 

Greenville  

Water  in  leaf  
Brought  to  surface    by  sap- 
ping   
For  making  strips  
In  tobacco  ready  for  curing.. 

210 
285 
215 
22o 

310 
IOC 

455 
K9 
232 
2S4 
489 

34(1 
350 
345 
11 
11 
334 
35 
333 
344 
34C 

333 

350 
11 
34X 
343 

348 

Favorite   varieties    for 
liogany  
Per  cent,  of  in  sugar  crop 
Plug                                      53 

Yellow  
Wright  Co    J 

Weather  

Yellow  tobacco  

...  367 

Cool  
In  relation  to  fertilization.  .  . 
Weight  

Classification  wrappers.. 
Cultivation  

...  368 
.11,361 
....   366 

.     41 

Casks  for  tobacco  

Leaf  cured  in  stalk  
Loss  in  making  strips  

Cutters  

Favorite  varieties  
Fertilizers  for  
Fillers 

....     43 
....  361 

a«»  :<r,q 

Virginia  tobacco  

Assorting  and  stuffing  
Best  cutting  leaf  

Finest  leaf  353 
Harvesting  362 
Management  after  curing.  .  .  .  366 
Origin  10,357 
Patents  for  stringing  363 
Planting                                        s*51 

Character  of  leaf  
Curing  . 

Description'  of  
Experiments  with  
Fertilization  and  rotation  .  .  . 
Harvesting  
Largest   producing   counties 

Preparation  of  land  
Quantity  produced  

....   359 
....  352 
10 

Seed  plant  

....     68 
369 

11 

Manufacturing  leaf  

Stripping  from  stalk  
Topped  plant  

362,  364 
..64,74 
362 

Origin  

Typical  soils  for  11, 
Wraoners  .  .  . 

355,358 
3G8.  309 

Prizine.... 

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gathering  and  packing  for  market.  Illustrated.  By  P.  T.  Quinn, 
practical  horticulturist.  Cloth,  12mo.  1.00 

Husmann's  American  Grape  Growing  and  Wine-Making;. 

By  George  Husmann  of  Talcoa  vineyards,  Napa,  California.  New 
and  enlarged  edition.  With  contributions  from  well  know  grape- 
growers,  giving  a  wide  range  of  experience.  The  author  of  this 
book  is  a  recognized  authority  on  tke  subject.  Cloth,  12mo.  1.50 

White's  Cranberry  Culture. 

Contents: — Natural  History. — History  of  Cultivation. — Choice  of 
Location.— Preparing  the  Ground.— Planting  the  Vines.— Manage- 
ment of  Meadows.— Flooding.— Enemies  and  Difficulties  Overcome. 
—Picking. — Keeping. — Profit  and  Loss. — Letters  from  Practical 
Growers.— Insects  Injurious  to  the  Cranberry.  By  Joseph  J.  White, 
a  practical  grower.  Illustrated.  Cloth,  12mo.  New  and  revised 
edition.  1.25 

Fuller's  Practical  Forestey. 

A  Treatise  on  the  Propagation,  Planting  and  Cultivation,  with  a 
description  and  the  botanical  and  proper  names  of  all  the  indigen- 
ous trees  of  the  United  States,  both  Evergreen  and  Deciduous,  with 
Notes  on  a  large  number  of  the  most  valuable  Exotic  Species.  By 
Andrew  S.  Fuller,  author  of  "Grape  Culturist,"  "Small  Fruit  Cul- 
turist," etc.  1.50 

Stewart's  Irrigation  for  the  Farm,  Garden  and  Orchard. 

This  work  Is  offered  to  those  American  Farmers  and  other  cultiva- 
tors of  the  soil  who,  from  painful  experience,  can  readily  appre- 
ciate the  losses  which  result  from  the  scarcity  of  water  at  critical 
periods.  By  Henry  Stewart.  Fully  illustrated.  Cloth,  12mo.  1.50 

Quinn's  Money  in  the  Garden. 

By  P.  T.  Quinn.  The  author  gives  in  a  plain,  practical  style,  In- 
structions on  three  distinct,  although  closely  connected  branches 
of  gardening— the  kitchen  garden,  market  garden,  and  field  culture, 
from  successful  practical  experience  for  a  term  of  years.  Illustra- 
ted. Cloth,  12mo.  \M 


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